{ "submission_id": "84978", "keywords": [ { "keyword_id": "3343", "keyword_name": "action", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "4351" }, { "keyword_id": "45504", "keyword_name": "coming-of-age", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "5" }, { "keyword_id": "2490", "keyword_name": "drama", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "4615" }, { "keyword_id": "7653", "keyword_name": "emotional", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "823" }, { "keyword_id": "33", "keyword_name": "fox", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "249303" }, { "keyword_id": "38", "keyword_name": "kit", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "2888" }, { "keyword_id": "23644", "keyword_name": "kits", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "218" }, { "keyword_id": "909", "keyword_name": "romance", "contributed": "f", "submissions_count": "9134" } ], "hidden": "f", "scraps": "f", "favorite": "f", "favorites_count": "18", "create_datetime": "2011-03-18 19:45:38.402303+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "18 Mar 2011 20:45 CET", "last_file_update_datetime": "2016-11-25 12:15:38.896155+00", "last_file_update_datetime_usertime": "25 Nov 2016 13:15 CET", "username": "KichigaiKitsune", "user_id": "30", "user_icon_file_name": "204108_KichigaiKitsune_retrotritrails.png", "user_icon_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/204/204108_KichigaiKitsune_retrotritrails.png", "user_icon_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/204/204108_KichigaiKitsune_retrotritrails.png", "user_icon_url_small": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/204/204108_KichigaiKitsune_retrotritrails.png", "file_name": "1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.doc", "thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.jpg", "thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.jpg", "thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.jpg", "thumb_huge_x": "300", "thumb_huge_y": "151", "thumb_large_x": "200", "thumb_large_y": "100", "thumb_medium_x": "120", "thumb_medium_y": "60", "files": [ { "file_id": "1731984", "file_name": "1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.doc", "file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.doc", "file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.doc", "file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.doc", "mimetype": "application/msword", "submission_id": "84978", "user_id": "30", "submission_file_order": "0", "full_size_x": null, "full_size_y": null, "screen_size_x": null, "screen_size_y": null, "preview_size_x": null, "preview_size_y": null, "initial_file_md5": "2c2fbefd2e2ebe1091e3d2d97c647131", "full_file_md5": "2c2fbefd2e2ebe1091e3d2d97c647131", "large_file_md5": "", "small_file_md5": "", "thumbnail_md5": "2485f158cdfa8ac9e03901624de7e8e2", "deleted": "f", "create_datetime": "2016-11-25 12:15:38.896155+00", "create_datetime_usertime": "25 Nov 2016 13:15 CET", "thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.jpg", "thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.jpg", "thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1731/1731984_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_7_com.jpg", "thumb_huge_x": "300", "thumb_huge_y": "151", "thumb_large_x": "200", "thumb_large_y": "100", "thumb_medium_x": "120", "thumb_medium_y": "60" } ], "pools": [ { "pool_id": "5168", "name": "Tai's Story", "description": "The tale of a young boy who suddenly finds himself in chaotic New York City, with the dark shadows of an untold past looming over him. ", "count": "26", "submission_left_submission_id": "79863", "submission_left_file_name": "1731983_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_6_com.doc", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1731/1731983_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_6_com.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1731/1731983_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_6_com.jpg", "submission_left_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1731/1731983_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_6_com.jpg", "submission_left_thumb_huge_x": "300", "submission_left_thumb_huge_y": "151", "submission_left_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_left_thumb_large_y": "100", "submission_left_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_left_thumb_medium_y": "60", "submission_right_submission_id": "86602", "submission_right_file_name": "1731985_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_8_com.doc", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/1731/1731985_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_8_com.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/1731/1731985_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_8_com.jpg", "submission_right_thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/1731/1731985_KichigaiKitsune_tais_story_chapter_8_com.jpg", "submission_right_thumb_huge_x": "300", "submission_right_thumb_huge_y": "151", "submission_right_thumb_large_x": "200", "submission_right_thumb_large_y": "100", "submission_right_thumb_medium_x": "120", "submission_right_thumb_medium_y": "60" } ], "description": "As the boys struggle to face their strange, painful loneliness, something far more dire, something beyond their understanding, strikes without warning. And Tai finds his entire world shattered in a single night... soon he finds himself lonelier than he ever thought possible.\n\nNote: I ask that you download the actual document to see this novel as it was intended. However, for those without patience (i.e., the dumb-asses), I am going to allow the InkBunny preview window to hold the entire story. I repeat: downloading the actual file is VERY much recommended.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "As the boys struggle to face their strange, painful loneliness, something far more dire, something beyond their understanding, strikes without warning. And Tai finds his entire world shattered in a single night... soon he finds himself lonelier than he ever thought possible.

Note: I ask that you download the actual document to see this novel as it was intended. However, for those without patience (i.e., the dumb-asses), I am going to allow the InkBunny preview window to hold the entire story. I repeat: downloading the actual file is VERY much recommended.", "writing": "Tai’s Story - Chapter 7\nBy Kichigai Kitsune\nCopyright 2005 onwards.\n\nDisclaimer: This story contains coarse language, violence, adult themes and scenes of an adult nature involving two young “cubs” (young anthropomorphic non-humans). If you are under the legal age as prescribed by the laws under which you are subject to reading such material, do not continue beyond this disclaimer. \n\n\tMike flopped onto the soft sofa, holding the cordless phone to his furry ear. “Come on, come on…” he muttered impatiently at the device as it rang on and on. \n\tIt was rare that he had reason to use the phone to contact his friends, and he always jumped on the chance whenever he could.\n\tSoon, he heard a voice speak, and it was exactly who he wanted. “Hello?” it said. \n\tMike grinned. “Hey Ciaran!” he said brightly, shifting slightly on the sofa. “I got your invitation.”\n\t“Oh, hey Mikey! Cool! Can you come?”\n\t“Yep, of course!” Mike chuckled. “I don’t know what you want for a birthday present though.” \n\t“Whatever you like,” responded Ciaran. “Mom and dad are getting me a new computer and that’s what I’ve been wanting all year.” \n\t“Oh, I’ll ask dad if we can get you a game or something.” Mike paused, remember what happened last time he requested a certain game from his father. “A not-expensive one.”\n\t“Like they exist. New games are reeeaally expensive. Oh, hey, did you wanna pass on the invitation to the kit who came with you to the faire?” \n\t“Tai?”\n\t“Yeah! The one with the weird name. He won’t be the only one his age, my cousins are coming, and besides he got along fine with everyone at the faire.”\n\t“Sure, I’ll try… he’s a bit shy, so I don’t know if he’ll come for sure,” Mike said worriedly. “I haven’t seen him for a little while though. Not since he went home.”\n\t“Huh? Doesn’t he live in the same building?”\n\t“Uh-huh. Not on the same level though, and whenever I’ve gone out I haven’t seen him or his mom.”\n\t“How about you go around to his place and invite him to my party?”\n\t“Sure. He’ll love that.”\n\tThe voice over the phone sounded concerned all of a sudden. “Why hasn’t he spoken to you since he left? Is he okay?” \n\tMike frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe his mom just won’t let him come over here. I don’t know.” \n\t“Well,” Ciaran said softly, “maybe he ran into those psychos who tried to stab him again.”\n\t“I don’t think so, but… oh man, you could be right.” Mike bit his lower lip. “I hope not.” \n\t“Me too. I guess you’ll know soon, right?”\n\t“Yeah. I’ll go talk to dad. I’ll call you back later!” \n\t“Alright! Peace!” \n\t“See ya.” Mike pressed the cancel button, hopped up and placed the phone back where it belonged before skipping to his father’s study. He knocked on the door, and came in without waiting for a response, as was customary. His dad was at the computer.\n\tRobert closed the window of whatever it was he was working on at the time, revealing his latest ‘wallpaper’: a picture of Mike at his tenth birthday party at a bowling alley. “What’s up, Mike?” he asked, turning his swiveling chair around slightly. \n\tThe brown-furred cub skipped up to his dad and leaned on his chair. “Ciaran’s getting a new computer for his birthday, and I said we might get him a video game for it.” \n\tRobert raised an eyebrow at his son. “You want me to pay fifty bucks for a birthday present?” he inquired. \n\t“Well… some games are cheaper than that, dad! Like, thirty bucks.” Mike shrugged. “It was just an idea.”\n\t“I guess I’ll see about it. We can go to the store tomorrow, maybe.” \n\t“Oh, and dad?”\n\t“Hm?” \n\t“Is it bad that Tai hasn’t come by since he left?”\n\tThe grown up chortled. “I don’t think so, Mike. You go weeks without seeing your friends, after all.” \n\t“But Tai lives in the same building,” Mike pointed out. He refrained from pointing out that his relationship with Tai was also more special to him than any of his other friendships. “And going so long without seeing friends is boring. It’s because I have to, not cause I want to.”\n\t“Hrm…” Robert frowned and eyed his son for a few moments. “Well, Tai is alright. I spoke to his mom not long ago. She was tired still, but she said Tai’s still in the apartment with her and she didn’t give any signs that he was abducted by aliens or anything. Or… are you worried about something else?” \n\t“Something else.” \n\tThe adult nodded. “I don’t know. I doubt it’s what you’re worried about. He probably doesn’t want to outstay his welcome, or get on our nerves. Remember, he’s a much shyer boy than he appears sometimes. Though I don’t think he’s got a problem with you.” He grinned. “He certainly didn’t have a problem with you while he was sleeping naked in your bed with you.” \n\tMike flushed and his heart skipped. “Ah, I guess.” He pressed on. “Maybe that’s why he’s not come by.” \n\t“Go there yourself, tomorrow,” Robert advised his son. “Let him know you like having him around. Go to his apartment again instead of having him around here.” He frowned. “Though if his mom is too tired, try to bring him back here. Ask her. She might appreciate the peace and quiet.”\n\t“You don’t mind him being here, do you?” \n\t“Nope.”\n\t“Really?” \n\t“Of course. He’s a good kit. A very smart boy.” Robert leaned back to get comfortable on his computer chair. “Very eloquent.”\n\t“Eloquent?”\n\t“Good with words. Articulate. Maybe as good as you were at his age.”\n\t“Better,” Mike said immediately.\n\t“I don’t know about that.” Robert shrugged honestly. His son was a confusing creature sometimes. He could be toweringly modest, judging his own capabilities fairly, at times, but was certainly capable of looking down his nose at less educated kits – the ones he considered stupid. That was probably a habit he needed to nip in the bud. As far as Robert was concerned, it wasn’t the fault of the other kids after all.\n\tMike frowned. “Maybe I should go around to his place right now…”\n\tRobert shook his head. “No, Mike, don’t be silly. It’s eight at night. You’ve got bed soon.”\n\tMike shot his dad his well-practiced puppy look. “Do I have to?”\n\t“Yes. You’re not going down to Tai’s place so late at night when you had all day to do it.”\n\t“But dad, I just want to see if he’s okay! I’ve got to pass on the invitation to Ciaran’s party to him anyway!” \n\tSmiling, Robert shook his head again. “Sorry Mike, but no. Remember Tai would likely have an earlier bed time than you, so he’s probably already asleep. His mom wouldn’t forgive us if you woke anybody up.”\n\tSuddenly Mike cocked his head curiously at his father. “What do you think of his mom?” \n\t“Wha-?” Robert blinked, taken totally by surprise. “How do you mean?”\n\t“Nothing!” Mike blurted, looking a little taken aback himself. “Okay, I’ll wait until tomorrow, I guess.” \n\tThe kit made to leave, but Robert stopped him. “Wait a second…” he said, frowning at his son thoughtfully.\nMike stopped and bit his lip nervously. “I, um, was just wondering.” \n\tHis son had never even met Eraline. Robert wasn’t an idiot… \n\t“Give me a hug before you go to bed, alright?” he said, keeping a lid on his suddenly welling emotions, but only barely. Mike came over and hugged his father tightly, feeling only slightly winded when his father squeezed him a little. \n\t“Glak!” he exaggerated, smiling when he pulled away. “Good night dad.”\n\tWhen Mike left and closed the door behind him, Robert closed his eyes. Unbelievable, already Mike was thinking about… was Tai thinking the same thing?!\n\tThe scars were small, Robert supposed, but they were still sore. It wasn’t all that surprising.\n\tHis were no better.\n\n\tTai upended his small suitcase, and the cascade of detritus splashed onto the bed covers. He placed the container down on the ground and sat next to the mess, cross legged. He’d cut off the cast and removed some of the bandaging on his injured ankle; the doctor had told him to ask his mother to remove it when he felt he could walk well enough, but he didn’t want to bother her, and the heavy plaster was beginning to annoy him.\n\tHe yawned and started to dig around in the pile. There was more unpacking to do, and he had nothing else to occupy him. \n\tRummaging around for a moment, he found a small green folder with his scraggly handwriting on the front. It was just his own name… well, the first name, anyway. His second name still gave him problems. It was his schoolwork folder; a simple green plastic folio that was held closed over by an elastic cord that snagged on a plastic node. \n\tHis mom had helped him put it together. It held just about all his worksheets and results of various other activities from the last year or so of school, in order to quickly show where he stood to his new teacher. It sounded like a good idea, and it had been fun to organize all the sheets. Not that he or his mom had remembered to take it to school on the first day… though that turned out to be probably for the better.\n\tHe opened it and pulled out some of the papers.\n\tA poem he wrote about apples, on an appropriately shaped cardboard cutout, colored vivid green. Like most of his schoolwork, he’d almost forgotten about it, but seeing it again brought a weird feeling with it. \n\tThere was a little purple star on it, next to a nigh indecipherable blurb in red pen. He gripped the cardboard tightly and scraped at the little sticker, then inhaled. Lavender or something. \n\tHe looked down at the silly object forlornly. He’d worked so hard on this, and some of the other things in the folio. The teacher had even complimented him on this and some other things he’d done in here—that didn’t happen often. He didn’t think he was a smart kid, and he rarely put much heart into his schoolwork, but those things he did, he was proud of.\n\tOr he had been. Now it didn’t mean anything. He had to start all over again.\n\tHe sighed, but couldn’t bring himself to stuff the folio away yet. So the kit kept flicking through the documents.\n\tHis second grade reader was in there, underneath a neatly colored picture of the solar system. It was as much a reading book as an activity book, so as he flipped to the middle of it, he was greeted by both the printed text and his own less than impressive handwriting. \n\tHe devoured three pages in short order, and soon grew bored of the story he’d read before, and looked at his answers to the questions in the back. The questions seemed so easy, and his answers were half-hearted, though correct. He remembered how much he’d rather be reading on than writing about what he’d just read.\n\tTai closed the book and looked at the cover miserably. \nSecond grade… he’d already done it. He was nearly nine years old, and he’d done the second grade almost twice, with only the last few months or so of this attempt to go. It had been mortally embarrassing the first time, and he’d kept it a secret as best he could. It lasted maybe three weeks of the school year before it became common knowledge, but at least he thought it was nearly over now. They’d moved away. He’d be moving on to the next grade, with no one to know his mortifying secret.\nOr so he had thought. Tai remembered overhearing his mom on the phone only a few weeks ago as she discussed him being held back before they made this move. Again. \nIt brought him to tears just hearing it. He should be in the third grade, and in a few months looking forward to fourth. Not this. Though she hadn’t yet spoken to him about it, he knew it was coming.\n\tHe dropped the booklet to the side and felt his eyes sting. Why did she never ask him what he wanted? He didn’t want to be kept back. To do everything he’d already done another damn time! What was so wrong with him being in third grade where he belonged?\n\tSchool was something he wanted to leave behind. Especially now. His new school was so big, daunting and unfriendly to the shy pup. Multiple storey buildings, concrete and paving where there should be grass and even more other kits to have to avoid. He was aware that most others didn’t mind it, but every weekday morning was like some kind of inevitable torture for him, and had been since he’d started it.\n\tNobody leaving him alone. Everybody looking at him. Teasing him. Thinking how pathetic and scrawny he was. Bigger boys treating him like trash. Teachers calling him stupid either aloud or silently. Hiding in the library every day reading comics and children’s history books because he was scared someone might notice him… he couldn’t take much more.\n\tRather weakly, he pushed the pile of junk off the sheets and onto his bedroom carpet, while he rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling light again.\n\t…Was he stupid? Was he failing some kind of unspoken test? He’d not given it a thought since the move, burying it under more important considerations, but now he wanted to know. It was making him feel like dirt. Was it something to do with how he always got picked on? He’d never heard of other kits being held back three times. \n\tMaybe he could hurt his ankle again somehow. Because the coming school week and the thought of mind-shattering agony in his paw seemed to be about equally appealing prospects.\n\n\tEraline felt woozy, sitting on the soft couch in the den. Her sleeping schedule was now back into a more or less natural rhythm, but she was simply tired. Oh, and tipsy. After that last week, she felt she could use a strong drink or two.\n\tSighing loudly, she found herself wondering. Wondering why she didn’t quit, take her son and run to some place far away, where they’d be safe and she wouldn’t need to get involved in things like this. Despite being away from her son for days, she was no closer to her goals than she’d been back in Alaska.\n\tShe raised the wine glass and drained half of it, looking deep into the hazy warmth of the gas heater.\n\tWhat was she talking about?! She couldn’t leave now. If for no other reason than the fact Tai would hate her forever for it; being uprooted again, sent away from yet more friends. She had to stick to it; at long last, it seemed that at least she could achieve something. Without endangering anyone.\n\tThere were other goals besides her job. Besides finishing what was started all those years ago, just for the sake of closure. There was something else far more important, even if she sometimes forgot that, that she had to do. It may not have been the real reason she came here, the one she admitted to herself, but it should have been.\n\tBy God, it should have been.\n\tOn that note, how auspicious! Tai seemed to get along famously with Robert’s son, despite the little age gap. That brought a warmth to her heart she hadn’t felt for years, and she smiled just thinking about it. \nEraline didn’t know why, but Tai had huge trouble making and keeping friends. She’d suspected he was being bullied at school, but her way of dealing with that was probably not the best. Switching his schools seemingly arbitrarily and not trying to get the clam-shelled Tai to open up to her was probably a bad course of action, but one she’d taken several times now. It was easier for her, and she thought that maybe each move would give her son a chance to start over, but he seemed to resent it; though it was hard to tell what that boy was thinking. \n\tShe was scared to find out by now.\n\tTai had been through several friendships now, all of which ended suddenly and Tai would speak no more of them. She had no idea why it kept happening to her long-haired shy pup, but it worried her. Was it his fault? Theirs? \n\tHers?\n\tWhatever it was, maybe it wouldn’t happen with little Michael. If it did, she’d be able to get answers this time at least.\n\tAnswers. She wouldn’t mind a few more of those, not at all. It’s not like she hadn’t been looking for them for years now, with little to be found. Though she hadn’t accomplished anything yet, she seemed to at last be able to really try this time. She saw a chance now at least.\n\tNor did she see anything wrong with a few more glasses of wine, so she stood and walked to her new kitchen. Tonight seemed like as good as any other to spend in a drunken haze. \n\tAs she opened the walnut burred cabinet, she tried, as she often did, to plan the coming week. Should she send Tai to school? He’d been attacked by students there; the school had already sent her a letter of profuse apology, but from what she could tell, nobody had said anything official to her son yet. He could walk, but… well, the school was trying to keep her from withdrawing Tai, and they had good reason. Some punks drew a knife on her son, and she wouldn’t stand for it. No half-decent mother would. But, Christ, she couldn’t pull him from another school… could she?\n\t… What would he want? Would he understand the situation? \n\tWould he tell her if she asked?\n\tEraline knew she had been running ever since that day four years ago… running away. Perhaps for even longer. For the longest time, she wasn’t sure she cared. Coming back here, the bright city lights had given her a startling clarity of thought. Returning to this place had done more for her than anyone or anything else could’ve done. Now she realized that she cared alright. She had never stopped.\n\tSeeing him again helped, though – she had thought it would hurt, but instead it helped. Helped her face her loss and understand it.\n\tNow she knew she couldn’t run from her duties, as a professional or a mother, any more. Too much depended on it. Her son depended on it. It would take a long time to recover fully; even longer to atone for what she had done. So it was time to get started – she had a long way to go.\n\tWithout hesitation, she dropped the wine glass in the sink. That was enough of that for tonight. Maybe it was a good idea to discuss the whole situation with Tai. He could probably understand now. It might be a good idea to send him back for the remaining weeks of school, even though she was considering having him repeat again. At the very least, she needed to discuss it with him.\n\tAbsently, she stared into the sink as what little wine that had been left in her glass oozed slowly towards the drain as a rivulet of dull red.\n\tThings were going to change. She wouldn’t be the same as she had been until now.\n\tSuddenly, the lights fluttered and died, plunging the entire apartment into blackness. \n\tHer heart froze, and she looked immediately out of the window. Streetlights were still on, but more importantly, other apartment buildings nearby seemed fully illuminated.\n\tShe crossed the kitchen at a half-run and snatched the cordless phone from its cradle. It lit up but with a message saying “No Signal.” \nThe power had been cut.\n\tA dreadful sinking feeling stirred in her chest. Something was very, very wrong here.\n\n\tThere was a knock on Tai’s door, and before he could wake himself fully, it was pushed open. “Tai?” his mother whispered anxiously. \n\t“Huh?” murmured Tai, sitting up. He’d fallen asleep out of pure boredom; he cast a glance immediately in the direction of his window. The sky outside his room was still dark, the only light outside coming from the streetlights. He’d been woken before dawn.\n\tEraline was standing in the doorway with her long head-fur messily framing her head. “Sorry sweetie,” she said. Agitatedly, she cast a glance behind her. “I didn’t know where you were and we’re having a blackout.” \n\tThe apartment was indeed pitch-black. Tai swung his legs off his bed and stood, a little wobbly. His ankle was still stiff but now he could stand without any aid—albeit a little wobbly. “What’s wrong?”\n\t“Nothing,” Eraline said, shaking her head. “Stay in here, alright?” Without another word, she shut the door.\n\tRegardless of what his mother said, something was most definitely wrong – it was plain just from her voice. Tai crept over to the doorway and pressed an ear to it carefully. It was extremely quiet; in fact, all Tai could hear were sounds outside the building, mostly cars. He looked out his window and frowned. \n\tUsually during power cuts, an entire area was affected by it. At least, that had been the case in the village near his last home – their own house had a generator. But the streets outside were bright. Maybe things were different in a city? More circuits or however it worked. He didn’t know for sure.\n\tWithout knowing why he did it, he cracked open the door and snuck out, trying to feel his way to the living room. His ears perked, and he listened hard, while straining to see what he could in the pitch blackness of the middle of the apartment, where there were no windows. \n\tJudging from the sounds, his mom was in her own room. It sounded like she was rummaging through drawers or maybe suitcases, probably still trying to unpack despite the darkness. She probably had a flashlight. \n\tEntering the living room, Tai blinked in confusion. The front door was slightly ajar, and the light out in the hallway was definitely on. Somehow, their own apartment was the only thing affected by the outage. That was possible, he guessed. Obviously. The proof was right there, unless it was some sort of emergency lighting.\n\tTai shrugged and decided to close the door. It was unlikely that it’d been left open on purpose, so he crossed the dimly lit hallway to it. \n\tAs he reached out for it, he froze. The air around him was suddenly disturbed, and an acrid, stale reek hit his nose. A shadow swung upwards at the edge of his vision. \nBefore he could cry out, a gloved paw suddenly clamped tight around his muzzle and yanked him backwards. \n\tA cylinder of metal was pressed to the front of his head, and his eyes dilated in terror. Tai knew what a gun was. His scream was greatly muffled by the grip around his muzzle – a grip so tight, the pain briefly paralyzed him.\n\tSuddenly there was a loud “clunk”, and he was released, falling to the floor in shock. He looked behind him. \n\t“Tai!” Eraline cried, hefting a thick four-foot wooden curtain rod. “Get out of here! Run! Now!” \n\tShe swung again, but the attacker smoothly ducked it and stepped towards her, delivering a punch to the vixen’s solar plexus with a sickening report. Eraline choked in pain, but at least managed to avoid the follow up knee by staggering backwards. \n\tThe pistol was raised again. \n\tEraline desperately reached out to push it away, but there was a loud, flat thud and she doubled over. It felt like a sledgehammer had driven something straight into her stomach. “Guh!” She looked over at Tai. “Run!”\n\tTai, wide eyed in terror, scrambled to his feet and threw the door open, running out into the corridor.\n\tEraline tried to keep her paws locked around the male’s wrists, but he pulled his arms to his chest and stepped away. There was another thud, and Eraline’s knees buckled. \n\t“Fuck!” The mask-clad intruder kicked her square in the neck from a standing position, sending her sprawling into the dining table, before turning and dashing out the hall after the escapee. \n\tTai was screaming, though he wasn’t aware of it. His panicked brain eventually realized what had happened. If his mom hadn’t showed up at just the right moment, that guy was going to pull the trigger on that thing. Immediately. He had nearly died in the blink of an eye! \n\tWhat was going on!? \n\tHe stopped at the elevator and pressed the button, but nothing lit up on the panel. Looking back to his apartment, he saw the attacker’s shape clearly approaching. Wearing a black balaclava, and otherwise normal, dark-colored street-clothing, he was sprinting down the corridor towards his prey at an incredible rate.\n\tTai wailed, abandoning the elevator and running on down the passage. A fresh burst of agony from his ankle made him stumble into the wall, but, crying loudly, he limped as fast as he could for the emergency stairs.\n\tHe shoved at the heavy door to the landing, finally pushing the fire-door aside, but it had cost him valuable seconds. No sooner had he entered the stairwell than a paw seized him by the back of the neck, and thrust him shoulder-first into the wall, mere feet from the stairs. The impact winded him, paralyzed him. The kit was roughly spun around and pinned to the wall by his throat.\nThe gray cylinder was again pressed to his head, but this time it was warm. “P-please!” Tai choked, his body and mind seizing in fright. \n\t“Sorry kid,” said the male, shaking his head. “You were supposed to be sleeping.” He began to squeeze the trigger, slowly. The little kit closed his eyes tightly and whimpered, though the sound was nigh inaudible.\nThere was a loud cry, and Tai winced, expecting a bang. A moment later, he forced his eyes open. There had been none.\n\t“Get the fuck away from my son!” a ringing female voice sounded from behind him. \n\tTai cracked his eyes open. “M-mom?” \n\tThe attacker released Tai, turning around and revealing to the kit that he had a kitchen knife buried in his back. He staggered backwards and accidentally struck Tai with his heavy adult body, sending the fox-boy tumbling down the stairs painfully until he slammed up against the wall at the landing.\n\tEraline cursed. The stab had missed anything important… she’d been shot twice and her body was trembling violently. She was lucky to have chased them the few dozen meters in the first place.\n\tShe seemed to see it in slow motion, but then she was reacting in slow motion too. He tried to raise the gun to her head, to finish off his wounded opponent. Not this time. She knocked the firearm from his pain slackened grip and brought her own arm swinging upwards. \n\t“Gyukh!” her attacker cried out and looked down in surprise. Buried below his ribcage was a small paring knife. Somehow, defying all limits Eraline understood, he stepped forwards and smashed a powerful elbow into her face. She was hurled backwards, her sight whiting out.\n\tPained but still standing, the wounded murderer turned back to the landing.\n\tTai whimpered. He was going to finish off the cub before he could run away again!\n\tThe masked attacker took a few uneasy steps towards his next victim, withdrawing his own knife from a sheathe concealed in his left sleeve. Just a small, silvery blade. Suddenly he was pitched headlong down the stairs, crying out in shock. Desperately, Eraline had thrown herself at him from the landing, crashing into the assailant from behind.\n\tHe hurtled towards Tai, who narrowly dove out the way, spraining his ankle again as he tumbled down the stairway to the next landing. The masked head collided with the wall where Tai had just been. There had been a sickening noise when he hit the wall, and blood splattered from his covered muzzle to seep out from behind the fibers of his mask.\n\tHe didn’t get up again.\n\tBut neither did Eraline.\n\tTai felt his stomach tighten. “Mom?!” he cried in panic, clambering to his paws.\n\tEraline crawled off the inert body, her face contorted in agony. There was blood everywhere on her torso, seeping clean through her nylon shirt; thick and red towards her breasts, but thicker still and a brownish color lower down. As she moved, it dripped and smeared over the concrete. “Ah!” she yelled, falling down a step. Eyes pinched shut in agony, she clutched at the bleeding wound in her lower belly. \n\tTai darted towards her. “Mom?!” he asked, kneeling by her. “Are you alright?” \n\tEraline opened her eyes and tried to sit, but the pain was far too much. “T-Tai?” she reversed, breathing hard. “Are you hurt?” \n\t“No! But- but you are!” \n\tShe looked down and grimaced. “I know… unh!” She struggled so she was looking up at her little boy from her back.\n\t“A-are you going to be ok?” Tai fretted, his hands quivering violently. “S-someone help! Help! Please!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. He could hear doors opening in the corridor-- finally.\n\tEraline reached out and laid a paw on Tai’s white-furred cheek. “Shh… I-I knew this could happen,” she said sadly, her voice and breathing choppy. “It always could. I… I’m sorry…” Her paw slid down the kit’s face, smearing viscous blood over his fur. Tai’s smaller paws shot up and caught hers before it could fall. \n\t“Wh-what?” asked, bursting into tears. “Why are you sorry?” \n\t“F-for being a bad mommy,” Eraline said weakly. “I was… never there for you, Tai… I’m sorry. I betrayed you more than you know.” \n\t“N-n-no!” Tai sobbed at her. He hugged her arm fiercely. “You’re not a bad mom.”\n\t“Tai… Tai honey?” \n\t“Y-yeah mom?” \n\t“Talk to… hnn! Ask Robert…” she breathed. Her eyes became unfocused. “Tai…?” \n\t“M-mom? A-are you hurt? I mean…” \n\tShe smiled at him, looking blearily into his eyes. “You’re… so much like him,” she whispered, clutching her boy’s paw with her own. “Your father. You have his eyes for sure… look like leaves. That’s what got me first…” Her smile widened yet her eyes closed slightly. “I love you. I do.”\n\t“…Mom?” Tai began to tremble. He released the arm; it fell limply onto Eraline’s chest as he shook her by the shoulders. “Mom! Mom!!\n\t“MOOOOOOM!”\n\n\t“Come on, honey,” the nurse said briskly, ushering Tai out of the surgery room. “We need you out of here.”\n\t“B-but she’s my mom!” he protested, trying to turn back, but the nurse brusquely shoved him out. “Is she gonna be okay?” he yelled through the door.\n\tThere was no reply.\n\tTai ran around to a glass panel looking in; at least they weren’t stopping him from doing that. The nurses and doctors were frantically moving all around his mother, who was laid out on a table of some kind, fetching syringes, plastic tubules and various other paraphernalia Tai had no names for. Heart in mouth, the little kit stared in dismay at the unfathomable scene, paws and face pressed right up to the glass. He was pushing on the glass as if it would finally break and let him back in. Where he belonged.\n\tHe tried to follow the activity, but it was like watching bees in a hive. They were all moving so quickly, with such purpose, yet in what seemed to be a chaotic fashion. Once again, he had no idea what was going on.\n\tAll Tai could see was red. Blood. Everywhere. It stood out with such sickening contrast against the sterile metal, the white gloves and the peculiarly green clothing.\n\tOne of the machines was issuing a steady beeping, a low tone. It suddenly started beeping faster, out of rhythm.\n\t“Get those paddles here!” urgently barked the doctor, seemingly a fennec, as he darted to the vixen’s I.V. tube to stick a needle into the feed.\n\t“We can’t stop this bleeding!” cried another white-masked wearing fur. “Look at this, she’s liver-shot.”\n\t“Someone get the damn paddles! We’re going to try.”\n\t“Yes doctor!” \n\tTai stared, eyes watering painfully. He had no idea what was going on, but he did know that it had to be something very bad. “Oh, please!” he blubbered to himself, listening intently.\n\t“Dammit!” shouted the doctor, glaring at the monitor. “Get a move on!”\n\t“It’s not going to happen,” a surgeon said softly, reaching out to grasp his colleague’s shoulder. “We can’t stop the bleeding. She’s liver-shot.”\n\tSuddenly, the beeping ceased. It became a dull, lifeless monotone. The fennec doctor gritted his teeth together, before slumping slightly. He looked like he was about to cry himself. “Time of death,” he intoned soullessly, “twenty-three sixteen. God damn it.”\n\t“Mom?” Tai whispered when he saw the doctor sag in defeat. “No. No!” He banged the glass with his tiny paws and shrieked, and shrieked at the doctors. Inside the room, no one could bear looking at the child outside. His voice was far away and muffled, but they could hear what he was saying easily.\n\t“You can’t give up!!” The fox boy was screaming, reddened eyes cascading tears. “You can’t! No, don’t stop!!” He slammed the glass again, hurting his wrists. He leaned back and smashed straight into the panel again. The barrier barely moved. “MOM!!”\n\tA middle aged nurse – a badger – swiftly came up behind him and laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Honey, you’ll hurt yourself!” she warned, pulling him away from the reinforced glass.\n\tThe nurse had performed this unenviable duty before, and it was possibly those years of experience – coupled with some innate intuition – that alerted her at the last second. The way the kit’s muscles tensed, the near imperceptible lowering of the ears… even so, she narrowly missed having her fingers bitten off as he uncoiled with sudden animalistic violence, snapping at her fingers and quickly swatting her arm away. She withdrew, startled, and Tai ran off. He slammed right into the door of the operating theater, his vision tear-blurred and head swimming, struggling with the simple handle before shoving the heavy door open.\n\tHe hadn’t seen his mother’s injuries properly before, but now, bursting into the midst of the surprised doctors and nurses, he was faced with the horrifying image. \n\tEraline’s eyes were closed, a mockery of sleep, and her chest unmoving. Her clothes had been cut open from the collar to the bottom, revealing her breasts and stomach so the doctors could make their futile attempt to save her life; her soft, cotton-like fur stained a horrible red with the unstoppable flow of blood that had poured from the penny-sized round gash just below her left breast. The other hole was even more gruesome, with the blood caked upon her fur a far darker color.\n\tThe visage burned its way into Tai’s eyes and incised itself forever into his mind… he felt something inside him plunge from his chest all the way deep down into the pit of his stomach. His breathing stopped, his eyes widened and he began to shake uncontrollably; a violent palsy that racked his body. \nA broken-hearted wail suddenly rose within him, increasing in volume and intensity until it became a hysterical screech. Unthinkingly, he reached out and grabbed the body of his mother – the skin beneath the fur feeling cold and clammy already – shaking it, clutching at it as he laid his face on her stomach… \n\tThe screech gave way to incoherent cries of denial, demanding it to be a lie, a dream. Demanding that his mom wake up. Hiccups hurt his chest and exhaustion buckled his knees, until his weight was only supported by the dead vixen he lay on.\n\tHe felt large paws gripping him all of a sudden, male paws; orderlies or nurses, he couldn’t tell which or bring himself to care. His hysteria was reaching a crescendo and nothing made sense. Nothing mattered; all the little fox kit wanted was his mother. That was all! Why weren’t they leaving him alone?! Why were they grabbing him?! He naturally fought back; kicking, punching, biting, clawing… he fought with the madness that had gripped him plainly evident on his face and in his strangled cries. \n\t“Kid, if you don’t calm down we’ll have to restrain you!” an orderly warned him callously, getting a firm grasp of both his paws and pinioning them by his side. Tai continued to struggle, narrowly missing with a head-butt to the adult’s nose; if it had connected it surely would’ve broken a muzzle.\n\tIn the end they didn’t have to do anything. In between his bawling, screaming and kicking, Tai lost his energy. After a brief ten seconds or so of being held in the orderly’s unbreakable grip, the kit suddenly went limp. He felt himself being picked off the ground. He cried loudly all the while as they took him into a quiet room, trying to tell himself that it couldn’t be real…\n\n\tThe nurse that had initially tried to restrain Tai earlier walked up to him. Her eyes were filled with sympathy, but Tai didn’t care. For her part, the nurse was discomfited by the pup’s wide eyed stare into middle distance. He looked utterly haunted and drained; and he had every right to be, she knew. This wasn’t her job. She had consoled family members before, but never a child. She didn’t know what to say.\n\t“Tai, isn’t it?” she said softly. “Baby, it’s twelve thirty. Way past your bedtime, huh?” No response from the cub. “Umm, we called some of your, um, neighbors to come pick you up. They’ll be here soon, Tai. Would you like a drink of something until then?”\n\tTai’s lips moved almost imperceptibly as he whispered, “Yes…”\n\t“Okay,” the nurse replied. “Would you like a hot chocolate? Or water?”\n\tTai nodded.\n\t“Was that for the water?”\n\tHe shook his head.\n\t“The hot chocolate?”\n\tHe nodded again.\n\tWithout another word, the nurse went silently to retrieve the beverage. \n\tTai didn’t want to be rude. He never did. He just wasn’t paying attention. He couldn’t. \nEverything was just a haze, and he felt so strange. Like he wasn’t really where he was; detached, like it was all a dream. So disoriented – absolutely drained by the fear, the emotions… the disbelief. But one thing was somehow real to him.\nBecause he had felt it all before. The dissociation. The confusion. The complete exhaustion that threatened to make him too tired to even feel sad, but never gave him that mercy… All while telling himself over and over it wasn’t true, but it never made a difference.\nFirst his father, now his mom was gone. \nHer silver laugh, her warm touch, the way she used to blow raspberries on his tummy… never again. How could he believe she’d never so much as smile at him again? Never laugh with, talk to, touch, scold, comfort, hold… \n\tHe broke down for the third time that night, sobs racking his entire body as he slithered out of the chair into a fetal position on the floor. He lay there, crying, a ball of despairing, neglected fluff on the linoleum floor. He pawed at the ground, bit his lip, and pulled at his own ear, unable to be still, crying so hard it hurt but he couldn’t stop. \nAt least the painful vomiting and retching that came over him last time didn’t start up again. He felt that there was nothing left in his stomach at all now, and the muscles still hurt.\n\tLike all the previous ones, this spell didn’t last too long. Within a few minutes, he was motionless on the floor, immeasurably tired.\n\tHis nose caught the scent of chocolate, warm chocolate, in the air, and he looked up weakly. The chair adjacent to his had a little steaming mug on it.\n\t“She didn’t even say anything,” Tai thought sulkily.\n\tHe’d been going around that cycle for several hours now. He would be totally out of it, thinking but somehow not-quite thinking. Then he’d break down into a soggy, weeping spell, and then it was onto the melancholy, sulky stage, then back to the rueful stage again. It was as if he was too tired to keep crying, so he just returned to it later.\n\t“Tai?” said a familiar voice. It was a gentle, light call that was asking if he was okay with its very tone. \n\tTai looked up and saw a bark-colored shape looming over him, with another standing behind it. He looked straight past the first shape…\n\t“A-are you okay? We heard what happened.” \n\tMike and his father had shown up. These were the neighbors they’d called? In a building with so many different apartments, they just happened to contact the Donaldsons? \n\tHis eyes narrowed when his mother’s last few words rang out again in his mind.\n\t“We should be going,” Robert announced as he turned back to the two kits, the nurse having walked away finally. His voice was somehow tighter than usual and he was looking around apprehensively. “You can stay with us, okay Tai?”\n\tThe small fox slid out from under his friend and marched boldly straight up to the adult. “You know something,” he growled softly. “I’m not going with you until I know what happened.”\n\tMike darted over to them. “Tai!” he exclaimed, frowning. “You don’t think my dad had anything to do with-”\n\tTai almost shouted. “I know you’ve never met my mom! Just that time I was leaving your place! Why did she tell me to talk to you?!” His paws were in fists by his side and he was shaking again. “Why? Who are you?! Why did this happen?”\n\t“Calm down,” the tall grownup said quietly, though it was obviously a waste of effort. Tai wasn’t calming down, and he had good reason for it.\n\tMike interjected, stepping directly in front of Tai. “Oh, come on!” he said firmly, indignation on his features. “We came here to help! What would my dad know about this?!”\n\tBefore Tai could reply, Robert laid a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder and gently pulled him aside. “It’s alright, Mike,” he sighed, a great sadness in his eyes. “He’s right, somewhat.”\n\tThere was a pause. “What?” Mike blinked in astonishment. \n\t“Tai, tell me,” the adult fox continued, reaching out to lay a hand on the little cub’s shoulder. Tai stepped away swiftly; he had no trust for anyone right now. “Tell me. What did you think your mother did at work?”\n\tThe kit just glared. “I-I don’t know…” he admitted. “She never told me.”\n\t“Do you have any idea why someone would try to kill her?”\n\t“They didn’t try!” Tai swallowed painfully. “And I don’t know…”\n\tRobert sighed. “Would you trust me if I said I’ll tell you later?” he asked, doubting it’d work. “We should get out of here if we want to talk about it.” The little fox-boy just laid back his ears and stared. “I swear I’ll explain. But it’s a very long story that we don’t want to be overheard. Please just trust me Tai? I had nothing to do with… this.”\n\tIt was just too much at this point. Tai didn’t trust Robert. Or Mike. Or anyone right now, but he wasn’t getting any answers and exhaustion was gnawing at him. A brief but devastating dizzy spell struck him; he stumbled forwards and nearly fell to his knees, though both Mike and his dad caught him.\n\t“Whoa!” Mike said, holding him by the waist. “Is he okay…?”\n\t“Go out to the car, guys,” Robert told them both, withdrawing his keys and handing them to Mike. “Tai, I swear I’ll explain. But we have to get you home, and from the looks of it, to bed too.”\n\tTai growled softly. Telling him to go to bed at a time like this was just crazy. He wouldn’t do it. No. If that meant he’d have to kick and scream and be a horror like he’d never been before, he would find the energy to do so. They’d regret taking him into their home if they did this. He didn’t care anymore!\n\tMike looked up at his father in confusion, trying to place the keys in his trouser pocket. “Wait, where you going, dad?” he asked, helping Tai upright even as the tired pup tried to push him away. It was going to be troublesome to get the other boy to the car by himself like this. Tai might even attack him. He looked scarily rabid. Why was he behaving like that?! \n\tBut the grownup just smiled wryly at his son. “I have to see someone about something. Won’t be too long.”\n\t“I hope not,” muttered Mike, leading Tai to the exit of the loathsome building. “And thanks for the info…”\n\n\tHe was awake. Robert noticed that immediately. \n\tNot only was he awake, but he was standing and clothed. The bed was unoccupied, with disconnected plastic cords draped over the sheets next to two pairs of opened handcuffs. It was far more than merely impressive, considering he had been stabbed in the stomach. The staff didn’t expect him to be able to move and didn’t bother properly restraining the killer: they clearly had no idea what they were dealing with.\n\tThe malodorous ferret whirled on the door when he heard it open. He froze when he saw who it was.\n\t“I knew you’d come here,” he sighed, nervously eyeing the suppressed pistol aimed directly at his chest. “I was hoping I could get out before you did.”\n\t“I was slightly surprised to find out you’d been caught, Nathan,” Robert told him, cocking the hammer. “I never expected Eraline herself to kick your ass.”\n\tNathan laughed softly. “It was trickier than I thought to go after them both, and she didn’t seem to know how to give up. So, tell me, what crime are you here to punish me for particularly? Your son or the vixen?”\n\t“Neither.” Robert shrugged. “I’m over it, Nate. I hated you two years ago, but this is something else. Now I just want to get rid of you. I’m sick of your very existence. I’m not here for punishment, you’ll get that in hell.”\n\tThe ferret’s banded features took on a slightly shocked cast. “Really? So far I’m not dead yet, so...”\n\t“I’m sort of here to do something about that.”\n\t“Why? If you’re so sure I’ll get my just desserts.” Nathan limped closer to the table near his bed and braced himself against it. His muzzle was bloodied, badly damaged, and one of his eyes was thoroughly bloodshot. “You shouldn’t kill friends, Robert. It’s what separates us from beasts after all.”\n\t“Friends? I thought such a notion was too grotesque for our circumstances. You’re far too dangerous for us to leave hanging around.” Robert narrowed his eyes slightly. What on earth was on the table that the mustelid assassin was leaning on? He couldn’t see.\n\t“Ah. ‘The only threat you should leave behind you is a dead one’, right?”\n\t“Yeah, about it.”\n\t“I didn’t enjoy it, Robert,” Nathan said sincerely. He wasn’t trying to talk his way out. No, Robert knew what he was trying to do. “My orders were to kill the vixen. My plan was to make it look like a murder-suicide, so the little pup wouldn’t have to go through all this. Same with your little son. I didn’t go after him because I have a thing for little fox-boys, believe me. I sort of had to. A living is a living. I’m sure the vixen was a wonderful lady.”\n\t“You have no idea. You murdered one of the best furs on this planet, and tried to kill her son too, the sweetest, gentlest creature I’ve ever met. Even worse, here you are trying to justify it. You’re not getting away with this, Nathan!”\n\tIf Robert hadn’t been more alert than he’d ever been in his life, he’d have ended up dead. The ferret’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, which was the only thing that gave the fox any warning.\n\tNathan moved with impossible speed. He lifted a syringe off the table top and threw it at Robert’s face. The projectile sped towards its target unerringly.\n\tAt the last second, Robert ducked to the side, feeling the plastic tube brush against his whiskers. He brought the gun back up, but a clipboard, whirling through the air, suddenly slammed into his face with its hard edge, causing him to reel back, the sight momentarily gone from his eyes.\n\tThe murderer kicked the weapon from the fox’s hands so hard the pain rung up his arms and into his chest, and then threw a pointed elbow through the air towards his muzzle.\n\tRobert barely had time to stop the blow with his forearm. The phenomenal strength behind it nearly knocked him over, so he couldn’t defend against the knee that came straight up into his ribs.\n\tIt winded him, but it was still easy to retaliate. He punched at the bloodied bandage on the weasel’s chest, eliciting a loud howl of agony, stepping under a still outstretched arm and kicking wildly the back of Nathan’s legs.\n\tNathan slammed to the floor but rolled to the side instantly, grasping the silenced pistol. He pointed it at Robert, but the quick vulpine slid his hand over Nathan’s wrist and delivered a swift kick to the groin. \n\tThe pistol clattered noisily to the floor, yet the ferret rolled to the side once again, straightening up with significant effort.\n\t“How long has this been coming, d’ya think?” he asked, displaying a grin that looked like it would be more at home on a lupine face. He couldn’t hide his pain at being kicked square in the balls, however.\n\t“God knows,” replied Robert wryly, readying himself. “Why did you do it, Nathan?”\n\t“I don’t think you’ll understand.”\n\t“Try me.”\n\t“As if you’re even listening!” The ferret dashed forwards, ignoring the pain his injuries caused him, and jabbed powerfully with his paw, which Robert easily avoided, but simultaneously kicked low. The vulpine didn’t see that coming. \n\t“Ah!” he cried out, feeling the pain shoot through his leg. The distraction served, and Robert received a nimble high kick to the lower jaw which sent him tumbling to the floor backwards. Crimson blood streaked across the linoleum.\n\t“Still having trouble with that knee, are you?” sneered Nathan, circling slightly.\n\tHowever, the cocky assassin had wandered too close. Robert pulled himself to his paws, put his head down and slammed hard into the ferret, taking care to whack him viciously on the testicles with his knee as he did. He clinched the injured killer’s waist, lifting him and slamming him into the wall, leaving a huge crumbling dent for the future occupants of the room to ponder.\n\t“Still having trouble with your balls, are you?” Robert countered, grinning wildly and inappropriately. In a sort of idiotic way, he was having fun. “You’re right. This was coming for some time.”\n\tNathan slid off the indented wall and collapsed onto the floor. He glared in shock at the fox for a moment, gingerly touching the bandaged wound on his chest. Then he closed his eyes.\n\t“What-?!” Robert exclaimed as Nathan’s other paw reached up and snapped off the lights. \n\tThe darkness, naturally, rendered him blind while his eyes adjusted to the weak street lights shining in from outside. Before they could though, something crashed into his lower back, striking above his kidney, and he staggered forwards into the damaged wall. The agony was literally paralyzing.\n\t“Too slow, Robert,” Nathan said clinically to the groaning fox sliding down the wall. “Story of your life, huh? My eyes always were faster.” Stooping, he picked up the gun that had fallen underneath the bed, while Robert fought to stand.\n\t“Yeah, maybe your eyes,” coughed Robert, pulling himself to his paws again.\n\tWithout any further comment, the ferret simply raised the weapon and squeezed the trigger. \nThere was a metallic click sound as the hammer came down. \nAnd nothing else.\n\t“But not your brain. It’s not loaded, Nathan.” Robert straightened, bearing down on the stunned murderer. “Next time, make sure there’s one in the chamber.” He punched the long nosed assassin in the head, sending him reeling a few steps towards the window overlooking the barely lit car-park, his paws raised to his bleeding muzzle. “How could I have possibly known you’d get my gun, right?” Another punch, this time a powerful blow to the solar plexus. “Next time you walk into a room with a trained assassin, tell me if it’s a good idea to bring a loaded weapon for him to shoot you with.”\n\tWilling all of his strength into his leg, Robert kicked up at the stumbling assassin’s chest forcefully, somewhat spitefully aiming for the bandaged wound. Nathan lurched backwards, his expression one of supreme agony. Finally, Robert slammed into him with a text-book shoulder tackle, hurling him as hard as possible towards the large, smooth glass.\n\tThe window shattered spectacularly and the ferret fell straight through, plummeting two storeys down. Even from all the way back up in the ruined hospital room, Robert winced when he heard the snap from the ferret’s landing. He darted to the window, withdrawing a second handgun from his coat… \n\tThe ferret lay still upon the blacktop – a crumpled, twisted mess. However… \n\tNo more than ten feet away, was Robert’s silver sedan. \n\tMike threw open the door and climbed out in alarm, looking up at the shattered window that had rained the shards of thick glass down on the black, wet bitumen. He gasped in shock when he saw it was his own father standing up there. \n\tThen he looked down and nearly had a heart attack. He recognized this fur; he was almost sure. \n\tHis young, sharp mind didn’t take long to make the connection. Mike spun around and beheld Tai’s face as he got out of the car to see for himself.\n\tIt was grim, confused, but satisfied.\n\t“Oh, my God…” breathed Mike, completely and hopelessly lost. “What’s going on?!”\n\n\tThe car ride back to the apartment building featured less conversation than one would expect to find in an empty box.\n\tTai had purposefully seated himself on the other side of the car from Mike and was staring resolutely out the window, emerald eyes watery and unfocused as lights and speeding cars flew by. Mike, however, was staring incredulously at his father as he shifted uncomfortably in the driver’s seat. He was frowning in confusion and deep in thought…\n\tAttached to and suspended next to the car’s cigarette lighter, a mobile phone rang once before answering itself.\n\tThe voice over the loudspeaker was old and slightly dusty, touched with a southern accent.\n\t“Robert?” it asked uncertainly. “Are you there? It’s Mitchell.”\n\tThe vulpine shook his head to clear away his reverie-induced mind-fog. “Yes? W-what?”\n\t“How are things, friend?”\n\tRobert shrugged and found himself blinking owlishly. “Bad; things are bad.”\n\t“I’m sure they are. A bit of a stupid question, I suppose.”\n\t“This is a gigantic fuckup,” Robert grumbled.\n\t“Ahh?” the voice said dryly. “I see. You always did get a little too involved. Speaking of: I didn’t expect him to be stopped by Eraline. Or you for that matter. There was a fight, correct?” \n\t“Yeah,” Robert said in a soft voice. \n\t“I’m impressed.”\n\t“Wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t injured. Nearly didn’t happen at all.”\n\t“I’m sure it felt good though.”\n\t“Don’t, please. There are children listening.”\n\t“I was certain of that; I’d say discretion flew out the window when you hurled him out of one. Anyway, you probably don’t need me to remind you, do I? Now that she’s gone, her child has to be moved.”\n\t“That’s just bloody cold.” \n\t“Can you think of a better way to describe what we do, Robert? It’s for his safety; we’ve got to get him out of here.”\n\t“It’s stupid; how can we be sure that Tai doesn’t know something? Don’t be so quick to dismiss someone because they’re young, sir. For all we know, Tai could salvage everything for us.”\n\t“We don’t even know what there is to salvage, if anything. We have no idea why this happened. But, in any case, I’ll leave it up to you. If you honestly believe that he might know something, check it out. I strongly recommend relocating him. Take him somewhere safe. Let the foster system take care of him. He’s in danger, and so are you as long as you keep him with you.”\n\t“Quit that!” Robert burst out, sitting bolt upright. “He doesn’t need to hear this!”\n\t“… Discretion was never my strength, I apologize. Alright, we’ll leave the details to you then. If you’re going to make this personal, I already know I can’t stop you.” The voice sighed weakly. “But if you want my advice, you’ll spare your heart the strain and wash your hands of this whole mess.”\n\t“It’s my heart to strain.”\n\t“That’s right. But be smart about this. This is dangerous. I’ll contact you later; I sense I’m not endearing myself to you at the moment. Sorry.”\n\tThe cell phone’s keypad flashed twice and went silent as the person on the other end thankfully hung up.\n\t“Fucking idiot!” flared the fox.\n\tRobert threw the steering wheel sharply to the right and pulled over into a parking lot. He slowed the car to a halt and sighed. He stared listlessly at the steering wheel for several moments before looking up at the rear-view mirror.\n\t“Tai?” he asked tentatively. “Tai, did you hear that?”\n\tThe kit didn’t respond, unless one counts blinking once while looking out a window a proper response.\n\t“Tai, what he actually said was… they’ve pushed the paperwork along. You’re already classified an orphan.”\n\t“He said you should get rid of me,” Tai replied darkly, in a voice so quiet and injured it actually scared the adult. “That’s what he meant.”\n\t“Yeah… but we’re not going to do that, are we, Mike?”\n\tMike glared at him, and the expression on his face was one Robert was utterly unused to seeing from his son: one of betrayal and dislike. He stared silently for a moment, before he snapped his head to the side and looking out the window again. It wasn’t a pretty parking lot. “I don’t even know what’s going on.”\n\tRobert groaned and growled simultaneously, hitting the accelerator as he whipped the car around in a tight circle, spraying the other vehicles of the parking lot with a storm of gravel and stones.\n\n\tThe three foxes somberly made their way up the emergency stairs, all with their heads downcast and shoulders drooping. The elevators had shut down totally since the power was cut, and had not yet been reactivated. Luckily, there were two sets of emergency stairs, and Robert led them up the one on the opposite side of the building to where…\n\tIt was some kind of premonition that suddenly told Robert exactly what was about to happen. Sort of a realization that something was obviously going to occur once they reached the landing on this particular floor. “Tai!” he exclaimed, spinning around and narrowly missing with a grab as the kit spun around, smashing aside the fire door and darting down the corridor. “Tai! Stop!” \n\tThe adult took chase, but the young fox was much faster than his size implied, and he was already there by the time he was within grabbing distance. Robert didn’t need to grab him though… there was something in Tai’s stance, and some kind of aura, that just froze him with pity. \n\tThe boy stood still as a stock, shoulders slumped and ears flattened backwards. He was staring straight ahead, not looking at anything in particular.\n\t“I’d hoped it was just a joke…” Tai confessed softly.\n\tEraline’s apartment was taped off with police-tape; as was much of the corridor, up to the other stairway on the opposite side. The door was opened and the carpet in the front room was stained a deep purple-brown color. A viscous, coagulated pool of blood was also out the front of the house, sticking to the carpet like spilled sauce. It dotted the carpet out in the corridor all the way over to the other stairway where Eraline had finally…\n\tTai shook, though it wasn’t quite the juddering palsy of his earlier hysteria. “Or maybe it had been a dream I’d had when I was in the car… and I just couldn’t remember why I’d gone out with you, you know?” he added, voice cracking. “Something like that… anything. Anything.”\n\t“Tai, come on,” Robert told him, taking his paw firmly and pulling him away. “You don’t want to be here.”\n\t“It’s real…” The little kit obediently allowed the adult to lead him back to his apartment, ears drooped and spine like jelly. “It’s real.”\n\t“What do you want to eat?” Robert asked the two pups when they were inside his apartment finally. He locked the door, then bolted it. “Pasta?” He knew the answer well before he uttered the first syllable.\n\t“No thanks…” Mike whispered, heading straight for his own room.\n\t“I’m not hungry.” Tai was staring lethargically at the floor once again.\n\t“You sure you aren’t hungry?”\n\tMike stopped in his doorway and slowly, deliberately turned around to face his father. His face was perfectly emotionless even if his words weren’t. “I’m hungry. I just don’t wanna… be near you at the moment…” He gently closed the door. “Good night, dad.”\n\tThe words seemed to kill something inside of Robert, and he suddenly felt like he weighed a whole lot more. His worst fear had been confirmed. Mike had recognized Nathan.\n\t“I-I see…” he muttered, nodding. “I have to go do something. Tai, if Mike doesn’t let you in, you can sleep in the spare bedroom. The covers are warm. Good night.”\n\tWhen Robert entered his study, the little fox-pup was still standing in the kitchen…\n\n\tRobert had to do some things before sleep, so he was sitting at his computer, typing furiously with a speed and accuracy that only comes from years of experience on a keyboard. He had to finish typing this test paper up for his students so he could email it to the University, so someone else could handle it. He’d have to tell them to get a substitute as well, because there was no way he was going to go to work in the morning. He wouldn’t be able to move until at least mid-day, so he would have to... He had to… he’d have to… admit to himself that none of this shit mattered; admit it was all just to stop him thinking. \nAdmit that he just wanted to cry himself to sleep.\n\tHe glanced up at the clock, his sleepy brain not remembering that the computer itself could display the time.\n\tIt was after one in the morning. He was so tired, so early…\n\t“This stupid thing…” Robert snapped at nobody in particular, rubbing his bleary eyes. He accidentally brought his paw down on the mouse, which jolted up and clicked the close button. Having just saved, the document closed and returned Robert to the desktop.\n\t“Oh, for God’s sake!” he hissed, curling his paw into a fist. “That does it…”\n\tHe couldn’t focus anyway. Mike’s harsh words reverberated inside his skull at every minute’s end, driving him to distraction.\n\t“Mike…” the grown vulpine whined to himself, finally allowing some of his own tears to squeeze out. “Eraline… dammit!!” He felt his stomach contract and his nose was running… When was the last time he’d felt like this? Ten, twenty years ago? When he was nothing more than a child.\n\tHe’d kept an unforgivable secret from his son. He’d been party to the endangerment of an eight-year-old kit, sitting idle as the boy was used as a smoke screen, a figment of a disguise. He’d put his own son in danger, and as with Tai and Eraline, hadn’t told his own blood a god-damn fucking thing. The worst crime of them all, he had failed to protect Eraline, and tonight she lay dead because of it. \nIf Mike thought he hated his father right now, Robert knew he didn’t have a patch on the poisonous self-loathing he felt himself.\n\t“Dad?” a tiny voice squeaked. \n\tRobert jolted around to look at the doorway, broken slightly away from his maudlin reverie.\n\tThe little brown kit was standing, naked but for his boxers, at the barely cracked open doorway, unsure if he was allowed inside, into the presence of the very one he’d rejected earlier. His eyes were red and the fur on his cheeks was matted from tears as he peered into the room. “Dad?” There was a broken quaver in his voice, a catch, as if the word was tugging at his heart. \n\t“Mike!” \n\tThe child leapt forward and crashed into the seated grown-up, ensnaring him in his small arms. “Dad!!” he whimpered, clutching at his father with sharp little claws.\n\tRobert’s breath caught. He hugged his son tight to his chest, he himself crying into the boy’s head-fur. \n\t“Dad, I’m sorry!! I’m sorry!” The kit was shaking his head from side to side, voice broken by hiccups. “I love you! I do wanna be near you!”\n\t“It’s okay, Mike… I know, I know.”\n\t“I’m such a jerk! You’re the greatest dad in the world, I-I… just don’t know what’s going on! I don’t get it!”\n\t“It doesn’t matter Mike.”\n\t“Oh, shit… what would mom say?” The boy sounded shrill and genuinely worried.\n\t“She’d understand.” Robert lifted his son into his lap and hugged him even tighter. “You’d been through a lot for one day. We all have. I’m so sorry…”\n\tThey sat there in silence, the kit breathing the adult’s scent in, feeling his body warmth. \n\t“D-dad…” sobbed Mike, suddenly breaking the ice. “I have to… I need to ask something… I can’t stop… stop thinking about it…”\n\tRobert brushed the boy’s silky head-fur, resting his cheek atop the little head. There were many questions his son could throw at him right now, and he prayed this would be one of the easier ones. “What is it?”\n\t“D-did you… I mean, have you ever… killed anyone?” \n\tThe silence returned momentarily. “Well…” whispered Robert. “I-if you don’t count today, knocking that guy out the window,” he breathed deeply, idly noticing that his son was holding his own. “No.”\n\t“Really?” \n\t“Really. I’ve never…” He lidded his eyes briefly. “Oh fuck… No, no Mike, I’ve never killed anyone. It was never my job to be anywhere near that… T-tonight was the only time, and I didn’t even want to. Please, please believe me. I’m not… your dad isn’t a killer.”\n\tMike sniffled, clutching at his father’s back, flattening his ears. “I believe you. I don’t know what’s going on, but I trust you.”\n\tThe adult grimaced, trying unsuccessfully to stop a sob of his own. There was nothing more to really say right now, so the father and son just tried to gather themselves…\n\t“Okay, Michael,” Robert said after a few minutes, standing up and hoisting his son in his arms. “It’s time for us all to get some sleep. I think I’ll be asked a lot of questions in the morning.”\n\t“Can I sleep in your bed tonight? Please, dad?”\n\tRobert nodded, giving his little boy a gentle nuzzle. “Okay. But first, let’s check on Tai. Do you know if he’s gone to sleep yet?”\n\tMike shook his head slowly. “No, dad. I thought he might like to be alone.”\n\t“I guess we should talk to him. Is he in the den?” \n\t“He’s not in the apartment, dad.” \n\tRob stared at his son for a few seconds before it sank it. “H-he isn’t?”\n\t“No. Thought you knew.” \n\t“Oh, no.” Setting his son down on his paws, Robert quickly began compiling a list of where Tai could’ve gone. “Mike, we have to find him. It’s dangerous for him to be out alone. Anywhere.” \n\t“Where should we look?” Mike was confused again, looking at his dad with baffled eyes. He still had no idea what was going on.\n\t“I’ll go to his own apartment,” Robert said. He took his son by the shoulders. “Listen, Mike. Check the building from the bottom up. Ask everyone you see if they’ve seen him. Don’t go into Tai’s own apartment, or the other emergency stairway. I’ll check there, I don’t want you to see it.”\n\t“I’ve seen blood before, dad. I’ll check everywhere.” Mike bolted out of the study, down the corridor to the front door… he grabbed the handle and yanked at it. It rattled noisily, but didn’t move. “What?” Mike yelped in bewilderment. “Locked?” \n\tRobert emerged from the study himself, took one glance at the front door, and then peered around the corridor corner to the dining room. His keys were no longer on the table. “Damn it,” he cursed under his breath. “He locked us in.”\n\t“Why would he do that?!” demanded Mike, shocked. \n\t“He’s going somewhere he doesn’t want us to follow.” Robert’s face was grim as he weighed the options. \n\t“My key!” Mike suddenly exclaimed, spinning on the spot and sprinting dangerously down the corridor to his bedroom. \n\t“Why didn’t I expect this?!” Robert snapped at himself. “Stupid. Tai’s a sly kid, why didn’t I think of this!?”\n\tMike was asking himself the same question. The answer came to him eventually as he reached into his dresser for his spare key: earlier on, he’d concluded that, having lost his mother already, he knew what Tai was going through. But the truth was…\n\tThe truth was he had no clue how Tai felt. \n\n\tRobert had jogged down the hallway towards the stairs, to get to Tai’s old apartment. The blood spattered former home of Eraline and her son. But Mike stopped at the doorway to the stairwell, a sudden thought coming to him. A thought that sent a chill down his spine. \n\tHe decided he should check the building from the top down. There was a security guard at the lobby, he’d stop Tai from going anywhere… what if Tai didn’t want to go out the building, but jump off it, instead? Mike bit his lip; sure, it was a silly thought, suicide being something he didn’t understand, but he had to be certain.\n\tWith a muffled, anxious curse word, the kit mounted the stairs and clambered upwards. \n\tIt was nothing but stairs for several minutes, as Mike hurried to the top of the multi-storey building.\n\tWinded and gasping from exertion, at long last Mike burst through the unlocked door onto the roof. He’d only been here once or twice before, with his dad, to enjoy the cityscape or sunset. He’d certainly never been up here past midnight.\nThe high wind at the top of the twelve storey apartment building lashed at him instantly, catching him by surprise and nearly throwing him to the ground as it surged powerfully inland from the nearby sea. The rushing sound of it was dominating, almost hurting his ears.\n\tIt had been so long, Mike couldn’t remember the layout of the grimy roof that well. The ground was nothing but uncompromising gray concrete. There was what appeared to be a massive air conditioner complex off to one side, fenced off. Upon reflection, Mike surmised it was probably a ventilation system; some kind of pump. \n\tHis eyes strained in the darkness. There were few lights on the roof, understandably, and the fuzzy light from the streets below served only to render the sky a blurry gray; if it weren’t for the city lights reflecting off the few dark clouds that hung in the sky, there’d be even less visibility. The fox boy walked forward, peering into the gloom, his tail still as a stock as if he was worried it would attract the attention of something lurking in the darkness.\n\tHe noticed almost absently that he was shivering. The cold wind was howling in his ears. He wished he’d thought to bring a pullover or something with him. \nWould Tai really be out here?\n\tThere was an almost inaudible sound. A shoe scraping across concrete, some sort of movement that he could barely hear over the rushing wind. Mike froze and then crept forward until he was able to look around the gargantuan ventilation pump. He inhaled sharply. \n\tTai was there. Right at the edge of the building. Sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest and enveloped by his arms… no less than a few feet from a dozen-storey fall!\n\t“Tai!” he called, looking wildly around for a way to enter the fenced off area. The shadowy blob didn’t seem to move or in any way respond to his call. With no hesitation, Mike leaped at the fence, hauling himself up and over the cold metal bar at the top, before dropping loudly to the other side. He ran over to the dark shape.\n\tTai slowly looked over at him and smiled forlornly. “Hello Mike,” he said quietly, before returning to gazing out over the building’s edge. \n\t“Tai, what are you doing here?!” demanded Mike, his voice fraught with more worry than he’d ever heard in it before. “Why did you run off?” \n\tThe smaller kit apparently paid him no heed. He instead gestured up and out at the horizon. “Look,” he said, sounding infinitely sad.\n\t“Huh?” Mike followed the gesture. Yet all he could see was the featureless sky; that upturned bowl of murky gray and black. “What’s up?” \n\tTai seemed slightly crushed that his friend hadn’t even noticed that which he’d been pondering for nearly twenty minutes. “You don’t even notice they’re not there…” he exhaled in dismay. “Is that what happens?”\n\tNow Mike was utterly bamboozled. “Tai, what’s not there?!” he demanded in exasperation. \n\t“The stars!” He got a confused stare for a response. “You can’t see them ‘cause of all the light from streetlights and things around cities. I forget what they call that… used to know.” Tai looked up for a few more seconds, then his expression grew hopeless and tired. “I used to look at the stars every night. Guess I can’t anymore. Oh, light pollution.”\n\t“I-is that why you came up here?” Mike asked hopefully. “’Cause you wanted to see the stars? Do they remind you of…?” \n\tTai interrupted with a short, somewhat bitter laugh. “Mom never came out with me to watch the stars. Said she couldn’t stand the bugs and that we’d end up catching cold.” \n\t“Oh. I was gonna say ‘does it remind you of home’ though.” \n\tTai jumped a little, and his mouth opened, yet no sound came out. His eyes glistened and he felt his throat close. “Y-yeah, I-I…” he clenched his eyes shut until those familiar swirls appeared. “Mike!” he sobbed, his paws grabbing at his own shoulders, as if he was taking hold of his own body – to shake himself angrily.\n\tMike moved swiftly, kneeling down beside his friend and covering him in a light, draping embrace. “I know… that’s how I was too at first.” \n\tSuddenly, Tai went from clutching his own body to clawing at Mike’s. “Things we did do together, things we didn’t do. Things she liked and didn’t like. I don’t want to th-think ‘b-bout it!” He sniffed loudly. “D-does it ever go away? I-it hurts. I feel so terrible, and…” \n\tMike shushed him, placing his own head on top of Tai’s. “No… not really. It didn’t for me.”\n\tTai started crying again, softly. “Wh-when my dad died,” he began as the city lights below him contorted and sparkled, the tears seeping into his eyes distorting his view, “I cried for days. But at least… my mom… I was four! But now… sh-she’s gone t-too and it feels like… like…” he searched for a way to describe it. “Like I just lost everything I already lost. A-again.” \n\tTai looked out at the myriad lights that stretched out seemingly without end before him. “There are people everywhere here…” he said haltingly, confused himself as to what his point was. “B-b-but I feel so alone! I’ve got nothing! N-n-nobody! My parents are dead!” His voice became panicked and furious. “Wh-what about me? I have no parents! Does anyone even care? I hate this fucking city!! I hate everyone! I want out of here!!”\n\tMike was taken aback. He’d never heard Tai swear before, and the cub looked feral and afraid; almost as he had back at the hospital. He didn’t know what to say. \nAlthough he did start to understand.\nYes, he had lost his mother. Yes, it had hurt then and it still did, but he always, always had his dad. They loved each other so much, and they managed to help one another through everything.\nBut Tai had lost everyone. He didn’t have a family anymore. To top it all off, Tai was now stranded in a strange city, a place as alien to him as the surface of the moon would be to Mike. Everything was hitting him faster and harder than Mike remembered it hitting him. He wasn’t even capable of asking these kinds of questions until a few days after it had happened.\n\tWith a sniff, Tai forced himself to calm down a little, having seen Mike’s expression. “Wh-what happens now?” he blurted, almost incoherently, as he sat up. His tawny paw swiped at his nose to try to dry the flow of disgusting fluid and he eyed Mike apologetically.\n\t“I guess… there’ll be a funeral in a few days, maybe a week.” Mike sat down finally. “They have to have a funeral.”\n\t“I know that. I meant, what’s gonna happen to me now? They’re gonna put me in an orphanage, right? Send me away or something, like they said on the phone to your dad?”\n\t“I don’t know… maybe dad will know.”\n\tThere was an awkward silence. “Mike… I need to know. I don’t want to be sent to an orphanage. I don’t want to.” \n\t“Let’s go ask him. About everything… after we get back inside.”\n\t“Can we wait a little while?” Tai asked weakly. “I wanna look at the no-stars for a little longer.”\n\tMike smiled and nodded. “Sure, I suppose so.”\n\nChapter Seven – Fin. \n\n-- By Krazy Kitsune/Kichigai Kitsune\nCopyright 2005 onwards.\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Tai’s Story - Chapter 7
By Kichigai Kitsune
Copyright 2005 onwards.

Disclaimer: This story contains coarse language, violence, adult themes and scenes of an adult nature involving two young “cubs” (young anthropomorphic non-humans). If you are under the legal age as prescribed by the laws under which you are subject to reading such material, do not continue beyond this disclaimer.

\tMike flopped onto the soft sofa, holding the cordless phone to his furry ear. “Come on, come on…” he muttered impatiently at the device as it rang on and on.
\tIt was rare that he had reason to use the phone to contact his friends, and he always jumped on the chance whenever he could.
\tSoon, he heard a voice speak, and it was exactly who he wanted. “Hello?” it said.
\tMike grinned. “Hey Ciaran!” he said brightly, shifting slightly on the sofa. “I got your invitation.”
\t“Oh, hey Mikey! Cool! Can you come?”
\t“Yep, of course!” Mike chuckled. “I don’t know what you want for a birthday present though.”
\t“Whatever you like,” responded Ciaran. “Mom and dad are getting me a new computer and that’s what I’ve been wanting all year.”
\t“Oh, I’ll ask dad if we can get you a game or something.” Mike paused, remember what happened last time he requested a certain game from his father. “A not-expensive one.”
\t“Like they exist. New games are reeeaally expensive. Oh, hey, did you wanna pass on the invitation to the kit who came with you to the faire?”
\t“Tai?”
\t“Yeah! The one with the weird name. He won’t be the only one his age, my cousins are coming, and besides he got along fine with everyone at the faire.”
\t“Sure, I’ll try… he’s a bit shy, so I don’t know if he’ll come for sure,” Mike said worriedly. “I haven’t seen him for a little while though. Not since he went home.”
\t“Huh? Doesn’t he live in the same building?”
\t“Uh-huh. Not on the same level though, and whenever I’ve gone out I haven’t seen him or his mom.”
\t“How about you go around to his place and invite him to my party?”
\t“Sure. He’ll love that.”
\tThe voice over the phone sounded concerned all of a sudden. “Why hasn’t he spoken to you since he left? Is he okay?”
\tMike frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe his mom just won’t let him come over here. I don’t know.”
\t“Well,” Ciaran said softly, “maybe he ran into those psychos who tried to stab him again.”
\t“I don’t think so, but… oh man, you could be right.” Mike bit his lower lip. “I hope not.”
\t“Me too. I guess you’ll know soon, right?”
\t“Yeah. I’ll go talk to dad. I’ll call you back later!”
\t“Alright! Peace!”
\t“See ya.” Mike pressed the cancel button, hopped up and placed the phone back where it belonged before skipping to his father’s study. He knocked on the door, and came in without waiting for a response, as was customary. His dad was at the computer.
\tRobert closed the window of whatever it was he was working on at the time, revealing his latest ‘wallpaper’: a picture of Mike at his tenth birthday party at a bowling alley. “What’s up, Mike?” he asked, turning his swiveling chair around slightly.
\tThe brown-furred cub skipped up to his dad and leaned on his chair. “Ciaran’s getting a new computer for his birthday, and I said we might get him a video game for it.”
\tRobert raised an eyebrow at his son. “You want me to pay fifty bucks for a birthday present?” he inquired.
\t“Well… some games are cheaper than that, dad! Like, thirty bucks.” Mike shrugged. “It was just an idea.”
\t“I guess I’ll see about it. We can go to the store tomorrow, maybe.”
\t“Oh, and dad?”
\t“Hm?”
\t“Is it bad that Tai hasn’t come by since he left?”
\tThe grown up chortled. “I don’t think so, Mike. You go weeks without seeing your friends, after all.”
\t“But Tai lives in the same building,” Mike pointed out. He refrained from pointing out that his relationship with Tai was also more special to him than any of his other friendships. “And going so long without seeing friends is boring. It’s because I have to, not cause I want to.”
\t“Hrm…” Robert frowned and eyed his son for a few moments. “Well, Tai is alright. I spoke to his mom not long ago. She was tired still, but she said Tai’s still in the apartment with her and she didn’t give any signs that he was abducted by aliens or anything. Or… are you worried about something else?”
\t“Something else.”
\tThe adult nodded. “I don’t know. I doubt it’s what you’re worried about. He probably doesn’t want to outstay his welcome, or get on our nerves. Remember, he’s a much shyer boy than he appears sometimes. Though I don’t think he’s got a problem with you.” He grinned. “He certainly didn’t have a problem with you while he was sleeping naked in your bed with you.”
\tMike flushed and his heart skipped. “Ah, I guess.” He pressed on. “Maybe that’s why he’s not come by.”
\t“Go there yourself, tomorrow,” Robert advised his son. “Let him know you like having him around. Go to his apartment again instead of having him around here.” He frowned. “Though if his mom is too tired, try to bring him back here. Ask her. She might appreciate the peace and quiet.”
\t“You don’t mind him being here, do you?”
\t“Nope.”
\t“Really?”
\t“Of course. He’s a good kit. A very smart boy.” Robert leaned back to get comfortable on his computer chair. “Very eloquent.”
\t“Eloquent?”
\t“Good with words. Articulate. Maybe as good as you were at his age.”
\t“Better,” Mike said immediately.
\t“I don’t know about that.” Robert shrugged honestly. His son was a confusing creature sometimes. He could be toweringly modest, judging his own capabilities fairly, at times, but was certainly capable of looking down his nose at less educated kits – the ones he considered stupid. That was probably a habit he needed to nip in the bud. As far as Robert was concerned, it wasn’t the fault of the other kids after all.
\tMike frowned. “Maybe I should go around to his place right now…”
\tRobert shook his head. “No, Mike, don’t be silly. It’s eight at night. You’ve got bed soon.”
\tMike shot his dad his well-practiced puppy look. “Do I have to?”
\t“Yes. You’re not going down to Tai’s place so late at night when you had all day to do it.”
\t“But dad, I just want to see if he’s okay! I’ve got to pass on the invitation to Ciaran’s party to him anyway!”
\tSmiling, Robert shook his head again. “Sorry Mike, but no. Remember Tai would likely have an earlier bed time than you, so he’s probably already asleep. His mom wouldn’t forgive us if you woke anybody up.”
\tSuddenly Mike cocked his head curiously at his father. “What do you think of his mom?”
\t“Wha-?” Robert blinked, taken totally by surprise. “How do you mean?”
\t“Nothing!” Mike blurted, looking a little taken aback himself. “Okay, I’ll wait until tomorrow, I guess.”
\tThe kit made to leave, but Robert stopped him. “Wait a second…” he said, frowning at his son thoughtfully.
Mike stopped and bit his lip nervously. “I, um, was just wondering.”
\tHis son had never even met Eraline. Robert wasn’t an idiot…
\t“Give me a hug before you go to bed, alright?” he said, keeping a lid on his suddenly welling emotions, but only barely. Mike came over and hugged his father tightly, feeling only slightly winded when his father squeezed him a little.
\t“Glak!” he exaggerated, smiling when he pulled away. “Good night dad.”
\tWhen Mike left and closed the door behind him, Robert closed his eyes. Unbelievable, already Mike was thinking about… was Tai thinking the same thing?!
\tThe scars were small, Robert supposed, but they were still sore.  It wasn’t all that surprising.
\tHis were no better.

\tTai upended his small suitcase, and the cascade of detritus splashed onto the bed covers. He placed the container down on the ground and sat next to the mess, cross legged. He’d cut off the cast and removed some of the bandaging on his injured ankle; the doctor had told him to ask his mother to remove it when he felt he could walk well enough, but he didn’t want to bother her, and the heavy plaster was beginning to annoy him.
\tHe yawned and started to dig around in the pile. There was more unpacking to do, and he had nothing else to occupy him.
\tRummaging around for a moment, he found a small green folder with his scraggly handwriting on the front. It was just his own name… well, the first name, anyway. His second name still gave him problems. It was his schoolwork folder; a simple green plastic folio that was held closed over by an elastic cord that snagged on a plastic node.
\tHis mom had helped him put it together. It held just about all his worksheets and results of various other activities from the last year or so of school, in order to quickly show where he stood to his new teacher. It sounded like a good idea, and it had been fun to organize all the sheets. Not that he or his mom had remembered to take it to school on the first day… though that turned out to be probably for the better.
\tHe opened it and pulled out some of the papers.
\tA poem he wrote about apples, on an appropriately shaped cardboard cutout, colored vivid green. Like most of his schoolwork, he’d almost forgotten about it, but seeing it again brought a weird feeling with it.
\tThere was a little purple star on it, next to a nigh indecipherable blurb in red pen. He gripped the cardboard tightly and scraped at the little sticker, then inhaled. Lavender or something.
\tHe looked down at the silly object forlornly. He’d worked so hard on this, and some of the other things in the folio. The teacher had even complimented him on this and some other things he’d done in here—that didn’t happen often. He didn’t think he was a smart kid, and he rarely put much heart into his schoolwork, but those things he did, he was proud of.
\tOr he had been. Now it didn’t mean anything. He had to start all over again.
\tHe sighed, but couldn’t bring himself to stuff the folio away yet. So the kit kept flicking through the documents.
\tHis second grade reader was in there, underneath a neatly colored picture of the solar system. It was as much a reading book as an activity book, so as he flipped to the middle of it, he was greeted by both the printed text and his own less than impressive handwriting.
\tHe devoured three pages in short order, and soon grew bored of the story he’d read before, and looked at his answers to the questions in the back. The questions seemed so easy, and his answers were half-hearted, though correct. He remembered how much he’d rather be reading on than writing about what he’d just read.
\tTai closed the book and looked at the cover miserably.
Second grade… he’d already done it. He was nearly nine years old, and he’d done the second grade almost twice, with only the last few months or so of this attempt to go. It had been mortally embarrassing the first time, and he’d kept it a secret as best he could. It lasted maybe three weeks of the school year before it became common knowledge, but at least he thought it was nearly over now. They’d moved away. He’d be moving on to the next grade, with no one to know his mortifying secret.
Or so he had thought. Tai remembered overhearing his mom on the phone only a few weeks ago as she discussed him being held back before they made this move. Again.
It brought him to tears just hearing it. He should be in the third grade, and in a few months looking forward to fourth. Not this. Though she hadn’t yet spoken to him about it, he knew it was coming.
\tHe dropped the booklet to the side and felt his eyes sting. Why did she never ask him what he wanted? He didn’t want to be kept back. To do everything he’d already done another damn time! What was so wrong with him being in third grade where he belonged?
\tSchool was something he wanted to leave behind. Especially now. His new school was so big, daunting and unfriendly to the shy pup. Multiple storey buildings, concrete and paving where there should be grass and even more other kits to have to avoid. He was aware that most others didn’t mind it, but every weekday morning was like some kind of inevitable torture for him, and had been since he’d started it.
\tNobody leaving him alone. Everybody looking at him. Teasing him. Thinking how pathetic and scrawny he was. Bigger boys treating him like trash. Teachers calling him stupid either aloud or silently. Hiding in the library every day reading comics and children’s history books because he was scared someone might notice him… he couldn’t take much more.
\tRather weakly, he pushed the pile of junk off the sheets and onto his bedroom carpet, while he rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling light again.
\t…Was he stupid? Was he failing some kind of unspoken test? He’d not given it a thought since the move, burying it under more important considerations, but now he wanted to know. It was making him feel like dirt. Was it something to do with how he always got picked on? He’d never heard of other kits being held back three times.
\tMaybe he could hurt his ankle again somehow. Because the coming school week and the thought of mind-shattering agony in his paw seemed to be about equally appealing prospects.

\tEraline felt woozy, sitting on the soft couch in the den. Her sleeping schedule was now back into a more or less natural rhythm, but she was simply tired. Oh, and tipsy. After that last week, she felt she could use a strong drink or two.
\tSighing loudly, she found herself wondering. Wondering why she didn’t quit, take her son and run to some place far away, where they’d be safe and she wouldn’t need to get involved in things like this. Despite being away from her son for days, she was no closer to her goals than she’d been back in Alaska.
\tShe raised the wine glass and drained half of it, looking deep into the hazy warmth of the gas heater.
\tWhat was she talking about?! She couldn’t leave now. If for no other reason than the fact Tai would hate her forever for it; being uprooted again, sent away from yet more friends. She had to stick to it; at long last, it seemed that at least she could achieve something. Without endangering anyone.
\tThere were other goals besides her job. Besides finishing what was started all those years ago, just for the sake of closure. There was something else far more important, even if she sometimes forgot that, that she had to do. It may not have been the real reason she came here, the one she admitted to herself, but it should have been.
\tBy God, it should have been.
\tOn that note, how auspicious! Tai seemed to get along famously with Robert’s son, despite the little age gap. That brought a warmth to her heart she hadn’t felt for years, and she smiled just thinking about it.
Eraline didn’t know why, but Tai had huge trouble making and keeping friends. She’d suspected he was being bullied at school, but her way of dealing with that was probably not the best. Switching his schools seemingly arbitrarily and not trying to get the clam-shelled Tai to open up to her was probably a bad course of action, but one she’d taken several times now. It was easier for her, and she thought that maybe each move would give her son a chance to start over, but he seemed to resent it; though it was hard to tell what that boy was thinking.
\tShe was scared to find out by now.
\tTai had been through several friendships now, all of which ended suddenly and Tai would speak no more of them. She had no idea why it kept happening to her long-haired shy pup, but it worried her. Was it his fault? Theirs?
\tHers?
\tWhatever it was, maybe it wouldn’t happen with little Michael. If it did, she’d be able to get answers this time at least.
\tAnswers. She wouldn’t mind a few more of those, not at all. It’s not like she hadn’t been looking for them for years now, with little to be found. Though she hadn’t accomplished anything yet, she seemed to at last be able to really try this time. She saw a chance now at least.
\tNor did she see anything wrong with a few more glasses of wine, so she stood and walked to her new kitchen. Tonight seemed like as good as any other to spend in a drunken haze.
\tAs she opened the walnut burred cabinet, she tried, as she often did, to plan the coming week. Should she send Tai to school? He’d been attacked by students there; the school had already sent her a letter of profuse apology, but from what she could tell, nobody had said anything official to her son yet. He could walk, but… well, the school was trying to keep her from withdrawing Tai, and they had good reason. Some punks drew a knife on her son, and she wouldn’t stand for it. No half-decent mother would. But, Christ, she couldn’t pull him from another school… could she?
\t… What would he want? Would he understand the situation?
\tWould he tell her if she asked?
\tEraline knew she had been running ever since that day four years ago… running away. Perhaps for even longer. For the longest time, she wasn’t sure she cared. Coming back here, the bright city lights had given her a startling clarity of thought. Returning to this place had done more for her than anyone or anything else could’ve done. Now she realized that she cared alright. She had never stopped.
\tSeeing him again helped, though – she had thought it would hurt, but instead it helped. Helped her face her loss and understand it.
\tNow she knew she couldn’t run from her duties, as a professional or a mother, any more. Too much depended on it. Her son depended on it. It would take a long time to recover fully; even longer to atone for what she had done. So it was time to get started – she had a long way to go.
\tWithout hesitation, she dropped the wine glass in the sink. That was enough of that for tonight. Maybe it was a good idea to discuss the whole situation with Tai. He could probably understand now. It might be a good idea to send him back for the remaining weeks of school, even though she was considering having him repeat again. At the very least, she needed to discuss it with him.
\tAbsently, she stared into the sink as what little wine that had been left in her glass oozed slowly towards the drain as a rivulet of dull red.
\tThings were going to change. She wouldn’t be the same as she had been until now.
\tSuddenly, the lights fluttered and died, plunging the entire apartment into blackness.
\tHer heart froze, and she looked immediately out of the window. Streetlights were still on, but more importantly, other apartment buildings nearby seemed fully illuminated.
\tShe crossed the kitchen at a half-run and snatched the cordless phone from its cradle. It lit up but with a message saying “No Signal.”
The power had been cut.
\tA dreadful sinking feeling stirred in her chest. Something was very, very wrong here.

\tThere was a knock on Tai’s door, and before he could wake himself fully, it was pushed open. “Tai?” his mother whispered anxiously.
\t“Huh?” murmured Tai, sitting up. He’d fallen asleep out of pure boredom; he cast a glance immediately in the direction of his window. The sky outside his room was still dark, the only light outside coming from the streetlights. He’d been woken before dawn.
\tEraline was standing in the doorway with her long head-fur messily framing her head. “Sorry sweetie,” she said. Agitatedly, she cast a glance behind her. “I didn’t know where you were and we’re having a blackout.”
\tThe apartment was indeed pitch-black. Tai swung his legs off his bed and stood, a little wobbly. His ankle was still stiff but now he could stand without any aid—albeit a little wobbly. “What’s wrong?”
\t“Nothing,” Eraline said, shaking her head. “Stay in here, alright?” Without another word, she shut the door.
\tRegardless of what his mother said, something was most definitely wrong – it was plain just from her voice. Tai crept over to the doorway and pressed an ear to it carefully. It was extremely quiet; in fact, all Tai could hear were sounds outside the building, mostly cars. He looked out his window and frowned.
\tUsually during power cuts, an entire area was affected by it. At least, that had been the case in the village near his last home – their own house had a generator. But the streets outside were bright. Maybe things were different in a city? More circuits or however it worked. He didn’t know for sure.
\tWithout knowing why he did it, he cracked open the door and snuck out, trying to feel his way to the living room. His ears perked, and he listened hard, while straining to see what he could in the pitch blackness of the middle of the apartment, where there were no windows.
\tJudging from the sounds, his mom was in her own room. It sounded like she was rummaging through drawers or maybe suitcases, probably still trying to unpack despite the darkness. She probably had a flashlight.
\tEntering the living room, Tai blinked in confusion. The front door was slightly ajar, and the light out in the hallway was definitely on. Somehow, their own apartment was the only thing affected by the outage. That was possible, he guessed. Obviously. The proof was right there, unless it was some sort of emergency lighting.
\tTai shrugged and decided to close the door. It was unlikely that it’d been left open on purpose, so he crossed the dimly lit hallway to it.
\tAs he reached out for it, he froze. The air around him was suddenly disturbed, and an acrid, stale reek hit his nose. A shadow swung upwards at the edge of his vision.
Before he could cry out, a gloved paw suddenly clamped tight around his muzzle and yanked him backwards.
\tA cylinder of metal was pressed to the front of his head, and his eyes dilated in terror. Tai knew what a gun was. His scream was greatly muffled by the grip around his muzzle – a grip so tight, the pain briefly paralyzed him.
\tSuddenly there was a loud “clunk”, and he was released, falling to the floor in shock. He looked behind him.
\t“Tai!” Eraline cried, hefting a thick four-foot wooden curtain rod. “Get out of here! Run! Now!”
\tShe swung again, but the attacker smoothly ducked it and stepped towards her, delivering a punch to the vixen’s solar plexus with a sickening report. Eraline choked in pain, but at least managed to avoid the follow up knee by staggering backwards.
\tThe pistol was raised again.
\tEraline desperately reached out to push it away, but there was a loud, flat thud and she doubled over. It felt like a sledgehammer had driven something straight into her stomach. “Guh!” She looked over at Tai. “Run!”
\tTai, wide eyed in terror, scrambled to his feet and threw the door open, running out into the corridor.
\tEraline tried to keep her paws locked around the male’s wrists, but he pulled his arms to his chest and stepped away. There was another thud, and Eraline’s knees buckled.
\t“Fuck!” The mask-clad intruder kicked her square in the neck from a standing position, sending her sprawling into the dining table, before turning and dashing out the hall after the escapee.
\tTai was screaming, though he wasn’t aware of it. His panicked brain eventually realized what had happened. If his mom hadn’t showed up at just the right moment, that guy was going to pull the trigger on that thing. Immediately. He had nearly died in the blink of an eye!
\tWhat was going on!?
\tHe stopped at the elevator and pressed the button, but nothing lit up on the panel. Looking back to his apartment, he saw the attacker’s shape clearly approaching. Wearing a black balaclava, and otherwise normal, dark-colored street-clothing, he was sprinting down the corridor towards his prey at an incredible rate.
\tTai wailed, abandoning the elevator and running on down the passage. A fresh burst of agony from his ankle made him stumble into the wall, but, crying loudly, he limped as fast as he could for the emergency stairs.
\tHe shoved at the heavy door to the landing, finally pushing the fire-door aside, but it had cost him valuable seconds. No sooner had he entered the stairwell than a paw seized him by the back of the neck, and thrust him shoulder-first into the wall, mere feet from the stairs. The impact winded him, paralyzed him. The kit was roughly spun around and pinned to the wall by his throat.
The gray cylinder was again pressed to his head, but this time it was warm. “P-please!” Tai choked, his body and mind seizing in fright.
\t“Sorry kid,” said the male, shaking his head. “You were supposed to be sleeping.” He began to squeeze the trigger, slowly. The little kit closed his eyes tightly and whimpered, though the sound was nigh inaudible.
There was a loud cry, and Tai winced, expecting a bang. A moment later, he forced his eyes open. There had been none.
\t“Get the fuck away from my son!” a ringing female voice sounded from behind him.
\tTai cracked his eyes open. “M-mom?”
\tThe attacker released Tai, turning around and revealing to the kit that he had a kitchen knife buried in his back. He staggered backwards and accidentally struck Tai with his heavy adult body, sending the fox-boy tumbling down the stairs painfully until he slammed up against the wall at the landing.
\tEraline cursed. The stab had missed anything important… she’d been shot twice and her body was trembling violently. She was lucky to have chased them the few dozen meters in the first place.
\tShe seemed to see it in slow motion, but then she was reacting in slow motion too. He tried to raise the gun to her head, to finish off his wounded opponent. Not this time. She knocked the firearm from his pain slackened grip and brought her own arm swinging upwards.
\t“Gyukh!” her attacker cried out and looked down in surprise. Buried below his ribcage was a small paring knife. Somehow, defying all limits Eraline understood, he stepped forwards and smashed a powerful elbow into her face. She was hurled backwards, her sight whiting out.
\tPained but still standing, the wounded murderer turned back to the landing.
\tTai whimpered. He was going to finish off the cub before he could run away again!
\tThe masked attacker took a few uneasy steps towards his next victim, withdrawing his own knife from a sheathe concealed in his left sleeve.  Just a small, silvery blade. Suddenly he was pitched headlong down the stairs, crying out in shock. Desperately, Eraline had thrown herself at him from the landing, crashing into the assailant from behind.
\tHe hurtled towards Tai, who narrowly dove out the way, spraining his ankle again as he tumbled down the stairway to the next landing. The masked head collided with the wall where Tai had just been. There had been a sickening noise when he hit the wall, and blood splattered from his covered muzzle to seep out from behind the fibers of his mask.
\tHe didn’t get up again.
\tBut neither did Eraline.
\tTai felt his stomach tighten. “Mom?!” he cried in panic, clambering to his paws.
\tEraline crawled off the inert body, her face contorted in agony. There was blood everywhere on her torso, seeping clean through her nylon shirt; thick and red towards her breasts, but thicker still and a brownish color lower down. As she moved, it dripped and smeared over the concrete. “Ah!” she yelled, falling down a step. Eyes pinched shut in agony, she clutched at the bleeding wound in her lower belly.
\tTai darted towards her. “Mom?!” he asked, kneeling by her. “Are you alright?”
\tEraline opened her eyes and tried to sit, but the pain was far too much. “T-Tai?” she reversed, breathing hard. “Are you hurt?”
\t“No! But- but you are!”
\tShe looked down and grimaced. “I know… unh!” She struggled so she was looking up at her little boy from her back.
\t“A-are you going to be ok?” Tai fretted, his hands quivering violently. “S-someone help! Help! Please!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. He could hear doors opening in the corridor-- finally.
\tEraline reached out and laid a paw on Tai’s white-furred cheek. “Shh… I-I knew this could happen,” she said sadly, her voice and breathing choppy. “It always could. I… I’m sorry…” Her paw slid down the kit’s face, smearing viscous blood over his fur. Tai’s smaller paws shot up and caught hers before it could fall.
\t“Wh-what?” asked, bursting into tears. “Why are you sorry?”
\t“F-for being a bad mommy,” Eraline said weakly. “I was… never there for you, Tai… I’m sorry. I betrayed you more than you know.”
\t“N-n-no!” Tai sobbed at her. He hugged her arm fiercely. “You’re not a bad mom.”
\t“Tai… Tai honey?”
\t“Y-yeah mom?”
\t“Talk to… hnn! Ask Robert…” she breathed. Her eyes became unfocused. “Tai…?”
\t“M-mom? A-are you hurt? I mean…”
\tShe smiled at him, looking blearily into his eyes. “You’re… so much like him,” she whispered, clutching her boy’s paw with her own. “Your father. You have his eyes for sure… look like leaves. That’s what got me first…” Her smile widened yet her eyes closed slightly. “I love you. I do.”
\t“…Mom?” Tai began to tremble. He released the arm; it fell limply onto Eraline’s chest as he shook her by the shoulders. “Mom! Mom!!
\t“MOOOOOOM!”

\t“Come on, honey,” the nurse said briskly, ushering Tai out of the surgery room. “We need you out of here.”
\t“B-but she’s my mom!” he protested, trying to turn back, but the nurse brusquely shoved him out. “Is she gonna be okay?” he yelled through the door.
\tThere was no reply.
\tTai ran around to a glass panel looking in; at least they weren’t stopping him from doing that. The nurses and doctors were frantically moving all around his mother, who was laid out on a table of some kind, fetching syringes, plastic tubules and various other paraphernalia Tai had no names for. Heart in mouth, the little kit stared in dismay at the unfathomable scene, paws and face pressed right up to the glass. He was pushing on the glass as if it would finally break and let him back in. Where he belonged.
\tHe tried to follow the activity, but it was like watching bees in a hive. They were all moving so quickly, with such purpose, yet in what seemed to be a chaotic fashion. Once again, he had no idea what was going on.
\tAll Tai could see was red. Blood. Everywhere. It stood out with such sickening contrast against the sterile metal, the white gloves and the peculiarly green clothing.
\tOne of the machines was issuing a steady beeping, a low tone. It suddenly started beeping faster, out of rhythm.
\t“Get those paddles here!” urgently barked the doctor, seemingly a fennec, as he darted to the vixen’s I.V. tube to stick a needle into the feed.
\t“We can’t stop this bleeding!” cried another white-masked wearing fur. “Look at this, she’s liver-shot.”
\t“Someone get the damn paddles! We’re going to try.”
\t“Yes doctor!”
\tTai stared, eyes watering painfully. He had no idea what was going on, but he did know that it had to be something very bad. “Oh, please!” he blubbered to himself, listening intently.
\t“Dammit!” shouted the doctor, glaring at the monitor. “Get a move on!”
\t“It’s not going to happen,” a surgeon said softly, reaching out to grasp his colleague’s shoulder. “We can’t stop the bleeding. She’s liver-shot.”
\tSuddenly, the beeping ceased. It became a dull, lifeless monotone. The fennec doctor gritted his teeth together, before slumping slightly. He looked like he was about to cry himself. “Time of death,” he intoned soullessly, “twenty-three sixteen. God damn it.”
\t“Mom?” Tai whispered when he saw the doctor sag in defeat. “No. No!” He banged the glass with his tiny paws and shrieked, and shrieked at the doctors. Inside the room, no one could bear looking at the child outside. His voice was far away and muffled, but they could hear what he was saying easily.
\t“You can’t give up!!” The fox boy was screaming, reddened eyes cascading tears. “You can’t! No, don’t stop!!” He slammed the glass again, hurting his wrists. He leaned back and smashed straight into the panel again. The barrier barely moved. “MOM!!”
\tA middle aged nurse – a badger – swiftly came up behind him and laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Honey, you’ll hurt yourself!” she warned, pulling him away from the reinforced glass.
\tThe nurse had performed this unenviable duty before, and it was possibly those years of experience – coupled with some innate intuition – that alerted her at the last second. The way the kit’s muscles tensed, the near imperceptible lowering of the ears… even so, she narrowly missed having her fingers bitten off as he uncoiled with sudden animalistic violence, snapping at her fingers and quickly swatting her arm away. She withdrew, startled, and Tai ran off. He slammed right into the door of the operating theater, his vision tear-blurred and head swimming, struggling with the simple handle before shoving the heavy door open.
\tHe hadn’t seen his mother’s injuries properly before, but now, bursting into the midst of the surprised doctors and nurses, he was faced with the horrifying image.
\tEraline’s eyes were closed, a mockery of sleep, and her chest unmoving. Her clothes had been cut open from the collar to the bottom, revealing her breasts and stomach so the doctors could make their futile attempt to save her life; her soft, cotton-like fur stained a horrible red with the unstoppable flow of blood that had poured from the penny-sized round gash just below her left breast. The other hole was even more gruesome, with the blood caked upon her fur a far darker color.
\tThe visage burned its way into Tai’s eyes and incised itself forever into his mind… he felt something inside him plunge from his chest all the way deep down into the pit of his stomach. His breathing stopped, his eyes widened and he began to shake uncontrollably; a violent palsy that racked his body.
A broken-hearted wail suddenly rose within him, increasing in volume and intensity until it became a hysterical screech. Unthinkingly, he reached out and grabbed the body of his mother – the skin beneath the fur feeling cold and clammy already – shaking it, clutching at it as he laid his face on her stomach…
\tThe screech gave way to incoherent cries of denial, demanding it to be a lie, a dream. Demanding that his mom wake up. Hiccups hurt his chest and exhaustion buckled his knees, until his weight was only supported by the dead vixen he lay on.
\tHe felt large paws gripping him all of a sudden, male paws; orderlies or nurses, he couldn’t tell which or bring himself to care. His hysteria was reaching a crescendo and nothing made sense. Nothing mattered; all the little fox kit wanted was his mother. That was all! Why weren’t they leaving him alone?! Why were they grabbing him?! He naturally fought back; kicking, punching, biting, clawing… he fought with the madness that had gripped him plainly evident on his face and in his strangled cries.
\t“Kid, if you don’t calm down we’ll have to restrain you!” an orderly warned him callously, getting a firm grasp of both his paws and pinioning them by his side. Tai continued to struggle, narrowly missing with a head-butt to the adult’s nose; if it had connected it surely would’ve broken a muzzle.
\tIn the end they didn’t have to do anything. In between his bawling, screaming and kicking, Tai lost his energy. After a brief ten seconds or so of being held in the orderly’s unbreakable grip, the kit suddenly went limp. He felt himself being picked off the ground. He cried loudly all the while as they took him into a quiet room, trying to tell himself that it couldn’t be real…

\tThe nurse that had initially tried to restrain Tai earlier walked up to him. Her eyes were filled with sympathy, but Tai didn’t care. For her part, the nurse was discomfited by the pup’s wide eyed stare into middle distance. He looked utterly haunted and drained; and he had every right to be, she knew. This wasn’t her job. She had consoled family members before, but never a child. She didn’t know what to say.
\t“Tai, isn’t it?” she said softly. “Baby, it’s twelve thirty. Way past your bedtime, huh?” No response from the cub. “Umm, we called some of your, um,  neighbors to come pick you up. They’ll be here soon, Tai. Would you like a drink of something until then?”
\tTai’s lips moved almost imperceptibly as he whispered, “Yes…”
\t“Okay,” the nurse replied. “Would you like a hot chocolate? Or water?”
\tTai nodded.
\t“Was that for the water?”
\tHe shook his head.
\t“The hot chocolate?”
\tHe nodded again.
\tWithout another word, the nurse went silently to retrieve the beverage.
\tTai didn’t want to be rude. He never did. He just wasn’t paying attention. He couldn’t.
Everything was just a haze, and he felt so strange. Like he wasn’t really where he was; detached, like it was all a dream. So disoriented – absolutely drained by the fear, the emotions… the disbelief. But one thing was somehow real to him.
Because he had felt it all before. The dissociation. The confusion. The complete exhaustion that threatened to make him too tired to even feel sad, but never gave him that mercy… All while telling himself over and over it wasn’t true, but it never made a difference.
First his father, now his mom was gone.
Her silver laugh, her warm touch, the way she used to blow raspberries on his tummy… never again. How could he believe she’d never so much as smile at him again? Never laugh with, talk to, touch, scold, comfort, hold…
\tHe broke down for the third time that night, sobs racking his entire body as he slithered out of the chair into a fetal position on the floor. He lay there, crying, a ball of despairing, neglected fluff on the linoleum floor. He pawed at the ground, bit his lip, and pulled at his own ear, unable to be still, crying so hard it hurt but he couldn’t stop.
At least the painful vomiting and retching that came over him last time didn’t start up again. He felt that there was nothing left in his stomach at all now, and the muscles still hurt.
\tLike all the previous ones, this spell didn’t last too long. Within a few minutes, he was motionless on the floor, immeasurably tired.
\tHis nose caught the scent of chocolate, warm chocolate, in the air, and he looked up weakly. The chair adjacent to his had a little steaming mug on it.
\t“She didn’t even say anything,” Tai thought sulkily.
\tHe’d been going around that cycle for several hours now. He would be totally out of it, thinking but somehow not-quite thinking. Then he’d break down into a soggy, weeping spell, and then it was onto the melancholy, sulky stage, then back to the rueful stage again. It was as if he was too tired to keep crying, so he just returned to it later.
\t“Tai?” said a familiar voice. It was a gentle, light call that was asking if he was okay with its very tone.
\tTai looked up and saw a bark-colored shape looming over him, with another standing behind it. He looked straight past the first shape…
\t“A-are you okay? We heard what happened.”
\tMike and his father had shown up. These were the neighbors they’d called? In a building with so many different apartments, they just happened to contact the Donaldsons?
\tHis eyes narrowed when his mother’s last few words rang out again in his mind.
\t“We should be going,” Robert announced as he turned back to the two kits, the nurse having walked away finally. His voice was somehow tighter than usual and he was looking around apprehensively. “You can stay with us, okay Tai?”
\tThe small fox slid out from under his friend and marched boldly straight up to the adult. “You know something,” he growled softly. “I’m not going with you until I know what happened.”
\tMike darted over to them. “Tai!” he exclaimed, frowning. “You don’t think my dad had anything to do with-”
\tTai almost shouted. “I know you’ve never met my mom! Just that time I was leaving your place! Why did she tell me to talk to you?!” His paws were in fists by his side and he was shaking again. “Why? Who are you?! Why did this happen?”
\t“Calm down,” the tall grownup said quietly, though it was obviously a waste of effort. Tai wasn’t calming down, and he had good reason for it.
\tMike interjected, stepping directly in front of Tai. “Oh, come on!” he said firmly, indignation on his features. “We came here to help! What would my dad know about this?!”
\tBefore Tai could reply, Robert laid a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder and gently pulled him aside. “It’s alright, Mike,” he sighed, a great sadness in his eyes. “He’s right, somewhat.”
\tThere was a pause. “What?” Mike blinked in astonishment.
\t“Tai, tell me,” the adult fox continued, reaching out to lay a hand on the little cub’s shoulder. Tai stepped away swiftly; he had no trust for anyone right now. “Tell me. What did you think your mother did at work?”
\tThe kit just glared. “I-I don’t know…” he admitted. “She never told me.”
\t“Do you have any idea why someone would try to kill her?”
\t“They didn’t try!” Tai swallowed painfully. “And I don’t know…”
\tRobert sighed. “Would you trust me if I said I’ll tell you later?” he asked, doubting it’d work. “We should get out of here if we want to talk about it.” The little fox-boy just laid back his ears and stared. “I swear I’ll explain. But it’s a very long story that we don’t want to be overheard. Please just trust me Tai? I had nothing to do with… this.”
\tIt was just too much at this point. Tai didn’t trust Robert. Or Mike. Or anyone right now, but he wasn’t getting any answers and exhaustion was gnawing at him. A brief but devastating dizzy spell struck him; he stumbled forwards and nearly fell to his knees, though both Mike and his dad caught him.
\t“Whoa!” Mike said, holding him by the waist. “Is he okay…?”
\t“Go out to the car, guys,” Robert told them both, withdrawing his keys and handing them to Mike. “Tai, I swear I’ll explain. But we have to get you home, and from the looks of it, to bed too.”
\tTai growled softly. Telling him to go to bed at a time like this was just crazy. He wouldn’t do it. No. If that meant he’d have to kick and scream and be a horror like he’d never been before, he would find the energy to do so. They’d regret taking him into their home if they did this. He didn’t care anymore!
\tMike looked up at his father in confusion, trying to place the keys in his trouser pocket. “Wait, where you going, dad?” he asked, helping Tai upright even as the tired pup tried to push him away. It was going to be troublesome to get the other boy to the car by himself like this. Tai might even attack him. He looked scarily rabid. Why was he behaving like that?!
\tBut the grownup just smiled wryly at his son. “I have to see someone about something. Won’t be too long.”
\t“I hope not,” muttered Mike, leading Tai to the exit of the loathsome building. “And thanks for the info…”

\tHe was awake. Robert noticed that immediately.
\tNot only was he awake, but he was standing and clothed. The bed was unoccupied, with disconnected plastic cords draped over the sheets next to two pairs of opened handcuffs. It was far more than merely impressive, considering he had been stabbed in the stomach. The staff didn’t expect him to be able to move and didn’t bother properly restraining the killer: they clearly had no idea what they were dealing with.
\tThe malodorous ferret whirled on the door when he heard it open. He froze when he saw who it was.
\t“I knew you’d come here,” he sighed, nervously eyeing the suppressed pistol aimed directly at his chest. “I was hoping I could get out before you did.”
\t“I was slightly surprised to find out you’d been caught, Nathan,” Robert told him, cocking the hammer. “I never expected Eraline herself to kick your ass.”
\tNathan laughed softly. “It was trickier than I thought to go after them both, and she didn’t seem to know how to give up. So, tell me, what crime are you here to punish me for particularly? Your son or the vixen?”
\t“Neither.” Robert shrugged. “I’m over it, Nate. I hated you two years ago, but this is something else. Now I just want to get rid of you. I’m sick of your very existence. I’m not here for punishment, you’ll get that in hell.”
\tThe ferret’s banded features took on a slightly shocked cast. “Really? So far I’m not dead yet, so...”
\t“I’m sort of here to do something about that.”
\t“Why? If you’re so sure I’ll get my just desserts.” Nathan limped closer to the table near his bed and braced himself against it. His muzzle was bloodied, badly damaged, and one of his eyes was thoroughly bloodshot. “You shouldn’t kill friends, Robert. It’s what separates us from beasts after all.”
\t“Friends? I thought such a notion was too grotesque for our circumstances. You’re far too dangerous for us to leave hanging around.” Robert narrowed his eyes slightly. What on earth was on the table that the mustelid assassin was leaning on? He couldn’t see.
\t“Ah. ‘The only threat you should leave behind you is a dead one’, right?”
\t“Yeah, about it.”
\t“I didn’t enjoy it, Robert,” Nathan said sincerely. He wasn’t trying to talk his way out. No, Robert knew what he was trying to do. “My orders were to kill the vixen. My plan was to make it look like a murder-suicide, so the little pup wouldn’t have to go through all this. Same with your little son. I didn’t go after him because I have a thing for little fox-boys, believe me. I sort of had to. A living is a living. I’m sure the vixen was a wonderful lady.”
\t“You have no idea. You murdered one of the best furs on this planet, and tried to kill her son too, the sweetest, gentlest creature I’ve ever met. Even worse, here you are trying to justify it. You’re not getting away with this, Nathan!”
\tIf Robert hadn’t been more alert than he’d ever been in his life, he’d have ended up dead. The ferret’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, which was the only thing that gave the fox any warning.
\tNathan moved with impossible speed. He lifted a syringe off the table top and threw it at Robert’s face. The projectile sped towards its target unerringly.
\tAt the last second, Robert ducked to the side, feeling the plastic tube brush against his whiskers. He brought the gun back up, but a clipboard, whirling through the air, suddenly slammed into his face with its hard edge, causing him to reel back, the sight momentarily gone from his eyes.
\tThe murderer kicked the weapon from the fox’s hands so hard the pain rung up his arms and into his chest, and then threw a pointed elbow through the air towards his muzzle.
\tRobert barely had time to stop the blow with his forearm. The phenomenal strength behind it nearly knocked him over, so he couldn’t defend against the knee that came straight up into his ribs.
\tIt winded him, but it was still easy to retaliate. He punched at the bloodied bandage on the weasel’s chest, eliciting a loud howl of agony, stepping under a still outstretched arm and kicking wildly the back of Nathan’s legs.
\tNathan slammed to the floor but rolled to the side instantly, grasping the silenced pistol. He pointed it at Robert, but the quick vulpine slid his hand over Nathan’s wrist and delivered a swift kick to the groin.
\tThe pistol clattered noisily to the floor, yet the ferret rolled to the side once again, straightening up with significant effort.
\t“How long has this been coming, d’ya think?” he asked, displaying a grin that looked like it would be more at home on a lupine face. He couldn’t hide his pain at being kicked square in the balls, however.
\t“God knows,” replied Robert wryly, readying himself. “Why did you do it, Nathan?”
\t“I don’t think you’ll understand.”
\t“Try me.”
\t“As if you’re even listening!” The ferret dashed forwards, ignoring the pain his injuries caused him, and jabbed powerfully with his paw, which Robert easily avoided, but simultaneously kicked low. The vulpine didn’t see that coming.
\t“Ah!” he cried out, feeling the pain shoot through his leg. The distraction served, and Robert received a nimble high kick to the lower jaw which sent him tumbling to the floor backwards. Crimson blood streaked across the linoleum.
\t“Still having trouble with that knee, are you?” sneered Nathan, circling slightly.
\tHowever, the cocky assassin had wandered too close. Robert pulled himself to his paws, put his head down and slammed hard into the ferret, taking care to whack him viciously on the testicles with his knee as he did. He clinched the injured killer’s waist, lifting him and slamming him into the wall, leaving a huge crumbling dent for the future occupants of the room to ponder.
\t“Still having trouble with your balls, are you?” Robert countered, grinning wildly and inappropriately. In a sort of idiotic way, he was having fun. “You’re right. This was coming for some time.”
\tNathan slid off the indented wall and collapsed onto the floor. He glared in shock at the fox for a moment, gingerly touching the bandaged wound on his chest. Then he closed his eyes.
\t“What-?!” Robert exclaimed as Nathan’s other paw reached up and snapped off the lights.
\tThe darkness, naturally, rendered him blind while his eyes adjusted to the weak street lights shining in from outside. Before they could though, something crashed into his lower back, striking above his kidney, and he staggered forwards into the damaged wall. The agony was literally paralyzing.
\t“Too slow, Robert,” Nathan said clinically to the groaning fox sliding down the wall. “Story of your life, huh? My eyes always were faster.” Stooping, he picked up the gun that had fallen underneath the bed, while Robert fought to stand.
\t“Yeah, maybe your eyes,” coughed Robert, pulling himself to his paws again.
\tWithout any further comment, the ferret simply raised the weapon and squeezed the trigger.
There was a metallic click sound as the hammer came down.
And nothing else.
\t“But not your brain. It’s not loaded, Nathan.” Robert straightened, bearing down on the stunned murderer. “Next time, make sure there’s one in the chamber.” He punched the long nosed assassin in the head, sending him reeling a few steps towards the window overlooking the barely lit car-park, his paws raised to his bleeding muzzle. “How could I have possibly known you’d get my gun, right?” Another punch, this time a powerful blow to the solar plexus. “Next time you walk into a room with a trained assassin, tell me if it’s a good idea to bring a loaded weapon for him to shoot you with.”
\tWilling all of his strength into his leg, Robert kicked up at the stumbling assassin’s chest forcefully, somewhat spitefully aiming for the bandaged wound. Nathan lurched backwards, his expression one of supreme agony. Finally, Robert slammed into him with a text-book shoulder tackle, hurling him as hard as possible towards the large, smooth glass.
\tThe window shattered spectacularly and the ferret fell straight through, plummeting two storeys down. Even from all the way back up in the ruined hospital room, Robert winced when he heard the snap from the ferret’s landing. He darted to the window, withdrawing a second handgun from his coat…
\tThe ferret lay still upon the blacktop – a crumpled, twisted mess. However…
\tNo more than ten feet away, was Robert’s silver sedan.
\tMike threw open the door and climbed out in alarm, looking up at the shattered window that had rained the shards of thick glass down on the black, wet bitumen. He gasped in shock when he saw it was his own father standing up there.
\tThen he looked down and nearly had a heart attack. He recognized this fur; he was almost sure.
\tHis young, sharp mind didn’t take long to make the connection. Mike spun around and beheld Tai’s face as he got out of the car to see for himself.
\tIt was grim, confused, but satisfied.
\t“Oh, my God…” breathed Mike, completely and hopelessly lost. “What’s going on?!”

\tThe car ride back to the apartment building featured less conversation than one would expect to find in an empty box.
\tTai had purposefully seated himself on the other side of the car from Mike and was staring resolutely out the window, emerald eyes watery and unfocused as lights and speeding cars flew by. Mike, however, was staring incredulously at his father as he shifted uncomfortably in the driver’s seat. He was frowning in confusion and deep in thought…
\tAttached to and suspended next to the car’s cigarette lighter, a mobile phone rang once before answering itself.
\tThe voice over the loudspeaker was old and slightly dusty, touched with a southern accent.
\t“Robert?” it asked uncertainly. “Are you there? It’s Mitchell.”
\tThe vulpine shook his head to clear away his reverie-induced mind-fog. “Yes? W-what?”
\t“How are things, friend?”
\tRobert shrugged and found himself blinking owlishly. “Bad; things are bad.”
\t“I’m sure they are. A bit of a stupid question, I suppose.”
\t“This is a gigantic fuckup,” Robert grumbled.
\t“Ahh?” the voice said dryly. “I see. You always did get a little too involved. Speaking of: I didn’t expect him to be stopped by Eraline. Or you for that matter. There was a fight, correct?”
\t“Yeah,” Robert said in a soft voice.
\t“I’m impressed.”
\t“Wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t injured. Nearly didn’t happen at all.”
\t“I’m sure it felt good though.”
\t“Don’t, please. There are children listening.”
\t“I was certain of that; I’d say discretion flew out the window when you hurled him out of one. Anyway, you probably don’t need me to remind you, do I? Now that she’s gone, her child has to be moved.”
\t“That’s just bloody cold.”
\t“Can you think of a better way to describe what we do, Robert? It’s for his safety; we’ve got to get him out of here.”
\t“It’s stupid; how can we be sure that Tai doesn’t know something? Don’t be so quick to dismiss someone because they’re young, sir. For all we know, Tai could salvage everything for us.”
\t“We don’t even know what there is to salvage, if anything. We have no idea why this happened. But, in any case, I’ll leave it up to you. If you honestly believe that he might know something, check it out. I strongly recommend relocating him. Take him somewhere safe. Let the foster system take care of him. He’s in danger, and so are you as long as you keep him with you.”
\t“Quit that!” Robert burst out, sitting bolt upright. “He doesn’t need to hear this!”
\t“… Discretion was never my strength, I apologize. Alright, we’ll leave the details to you then. If you’re going to make this personal, I already know I can’t stop you.” The voice sighed weakly. “But if you want my advice, you’ll spare your heart the strain and wash your hands of this whole mess.”
\t“It’s my heart to strain.”
\t“That’s right. But be smart about this. This is dangerous. I’ll contact you later; I sense I’m not endearing myself to you at the moment. Sorry.”
\tThe cell phone’s keypad flashed twice and went silent as the person on the other end thankfully hung up.
\t“Fucking idiot!” flared the fox.
\tRobert threw the steering wheel sharply to the right and pulled over into a parking lot. He slowed the car to a halt and sighed. He stared listlessly at the steering wheel for several moments before looking up at the rear-view mirror.
\t“Tai?” he asked tentatively. “Tai, did you hear that?”
\tThe kit didn’t respond, unless one counts blinking once while looking out a window a proper response.
\t“Tai, what he actually said was… they’ve pushed the paperwork along. You’re already classified an orphan.”
\t“He said you should get rid of me,” Tai replied darkly, in a voice so quiet and injured it actually scared the adult. “That’s what he meant.”
\t“Yeah… but we’re not going to do that, are we, Mike?”
\tMike glared at him, and the expression on his face was one Robert was utterly unused to seeing from his son: one of betrayal and dislike. He stared silently for a moment, before he snapped his head to the side and looking out the window again. It wasn’t a pretty parking lot. “I don’t even know what’s going on.”
\tRobert groaned and growled simultaneously, hitting the accelerator as he whipped the car around in a tight circle, spraying the other vehicles of the parking lot with a storm of gravel and stones.

\tThe three foxes somberly made their way up the emergency stairs, all with their heads downcast and shoulders drooping. The elevators had shut down totally since the power was cut, and had not yet been reactivated. Luckily, there were two sets of emergency stairs, and Robert led them up the one on the opposite side of the building to where…
\tIt was some kind of premonition that suddenly told Robert exactly what was about to happen. Sort of a realization that something was obviously going to occur once they reached the landing on this particular floor. “Tai!” he exclaimed, spinning around and narrowly missing with a grab as the kit spun around, smashing aside the fire door and darting down the corridor. “Tai! Stop!”
\tThe adult took chase, but the young fox was much faster than his size implied, and he was already there by the time he was within grabbing distance. Robert didn’t need to grab him though… there was something in Tai’s stance, and some kind of aura, that just froze him with pity.
\tThe boy stood still as a stock, shoulders slumped and ears flattened backwards. He was staring straight ahead, not looking at anything in particular.
\t“I’d hoped it was just a joke…” Tai confessed softly.
\tEraline’s apartment was taped off with police-tape; as was much of the corridor, up to the other stairway on the opposite side. The door was opened and the carpet in the front room was stained a deep purple-brown color. A viscous, coagulated pool of blood was also out the front of the house, sticking to the carpet like spilled sauce. It dotted the carpet out in the corridor all the way over to the other stairway where Eraline had finally…
\tTai shook, though it wasn’t quite the juddering palsy of his earlier hysteria. “Or maybe it had been a dream I’d had when I was in the car… and I just couldn’t remember why I’d gone out with you, you know?” he added, voice cracking. “Something like that… anything. Anything.”
\t“Tai, come on,” Robert told him, taking his paw firmly and pulling him away. “You don’t want to be here.”
\t“It’s real…” The little kit obediently allowed the adult to lead him back to his apartment, ears drooped and spine like jelly. “It’s real.”
\t“What do you want to eat?” Robert asked the two pups when they were inside his apartment finally. He locked the door, then bolted it. “Pasta?” He knew the answer well before he uttered the first syllable.
\t“No thanks…” Mike whispered, heading straight for his own room.
\t“I’m not hungry.” Tai was staring lethargically at the floor once again.
\t“You sure you aren’t hungry?”
\tMike stopped in his doorway and slowly, deliberately turned around to face his father. His face was perfectly emotionless even if his words weren’t. “I’m hungry. I just don’t wanna… be near you at the moment…” He gently closed the door. “Good night, dad.”
\tThe words seemed to kill something inside of Robert, and he suddenly felt like he weighed a whole lot more. His worst fear had been confirmed. Mike had recognized Nathan.
\t“I-I see…” he muttered, nodding. “I have to go do something. Tai, if Mike doesn’t let you in, you can sleep in the spare bedroom. The covers are warm. Good night.”
\tWhen Robert entered his study, the little fox-pup was still standing in the kitchen…

\tRobert had to do some things before sleep, so he was sitting at his computer, typing furiously with a speed and accuracy that only comes from years of experience on a keyboard. He had to finish typing this test paper up for his students so he could email it to the University, so someone else could handle it. He’d have to tell them to get a substitute as well, because there was no way he was going to go to work in the morning. He wouldn’t be able to move until at least mid-day, so he would have to... He had to… he’d have to… admit to himself that none of this shit mattered; admit it was all just to stop him thinking.
Admit that he just wanted to cry himself to sleep.
\tHe glanced up at the clock, his sleepy brain not remembering that the computer itself could display the time.
\tIt was after one in the morning. He was so tired, so early…
\t“This stupid thing…” Robert snapped at nobody in particular, rubbing his bleary eyes. He accidentally brought his paw down on the mouse, which jolted up and clicked the close button. Having just saved, the document closed and returned Robert to the desktop.
\t“Oh, for God’s sake!” he hissed, curling his paw into a fist. “That does it…”
\tHe couldn’t focus anyway. Mike’s harsh words reverberated inside his skull at every minute’s end, driving him to distraction.
\t“Mike…” the grown vulpine whined to himself, finally allowing some of his own tears to squeeze out. “Eraline… dammit!!” He felt his stomach contract and his nose was running… When was the last time he’d felt like this? Ten, twenty years ago? When he was nothing more than a child.
\tHe’d kept an unforgivable secret from his son. He’d been party to the endangerment of an eight-year-old kit, sitting idle as the boy was used as a smoke screen, a figment of a disguise. He’d put his own son in danger, and as with Tai and Eraline, hadn’t told his own blood a god-damn fucking thing. The worst crime of them all, he had failed to protect Eraline, and tonight she lay dead because of it.
If Mike thought he hated his father right now, Robert knew he didn’t have a patch on the poisonous self-loathing he felt himself.
\t“Dad?” a tiny voice squeaked.
\tRobert jolted around to look at the doorway, broken slightly away from his maudlin reverie.
\tThe little brown kit was standing, naked but for his boxers, at the barely cracked open doorway, unsure if he was allowed inside, into the presence of the very one he’d rejected earlier. His eyes were red and the fur on his cheeks was matted from tears as he peered into the room. “Dad?” There was a broken quaver in his voice, a catch, as if the word was tugging at his heart.
\t“Mike!”
\tThe child leapt forward and crashed into the seated grown-up, ensnaring him in his small arms. “Dad!!” he whimpered, clutching at his father with sharp little claws.
\tRobert’s breath caught. He hugged his son tight to his chest, he himself crying into the boy’s head-fur.
\t“Dad, I’m sorry!! I’m sorry!” The kit was shaking his head from side to side, voice broken by hiccups. “I love you! I do wanna be near you!”
\t“It’s okay, Mike… I know, I know.”
\t“I’m such a jerk! You’re the greatest dad in the world, I-I… just don’t know what’s going on! I don’t get it!”
\t“It doesn’t matter Mike.”
\t“Oh, shit… what would mom say?” The boy sounded shrill and genuinely worried.
\t“She’d understand.” Robert lifted his son into his lap and hugged him even tighter. “You’d been through a lot for one day. We all have. I’m so sorry…”
\tThey sat there in silence, the kit breathing the adult’s scent in, feeling his body warmth.
\t“D-dad…” sobbed Mike, suddenly breaking the ice. “I have to… I need to ask something… I can’t stop… stop thinking about it…”
\tRobert brushed the boy’s silky head-fur, resting his cheek atop the little head. There were many questions his son could throw at him right now, and he prayed this would be one of the easier ones. “What is it?”
\t“D-did you… I mean, have you ever… killed anyone?”
\tThe silence returned momentarily. “Well…” whispered Robert. “I-if you don’t count today, knocking that guy out the window,” he breathed deeply, idly noticing that his son was holding his own. “No.”
\t“Really?”
\t“Really. I’ve never…” He lidded his eyes briefly. “Oh fuck… No, no Mike, I’ve never killed anyone. It was never my job to be anywhere near that… T-tonight was the only time, and I didn’t even want to. Please, please believe me. I’m not… your dad isn’t a killer.”
\tMike sniffled, clutching at his father’s back, flattening his ears. “I believe you. I don’t know what’s going on, but I trust you.”
\tThe adult grimaced, trying unsuccessfully to stop a sob of his own. There was nothing more to really say right now, so the father and son just tried to gather themselves…
\t“Okay, Michael,” Robert said after a few minutes, standing up and hoisting his son in his arms. “It’s time for us all to get some sleep. I think I’ll be asked a lot of questions in the morning.”
\t“Can I sleep in your bed tonight? Please, dad?”
\tRobert nodded, giving his little boy a gentle nuzzle. “Okay. But first, let’s check on Tai. Do you know if he’s gone to sleep yet?”
\tMike shook his head slowly. “No, dad. I thought he might like to be alone.”
\t“I guess we should talk to him. Is he in the den?”
\t“He’s not in the apartment, dad.”
\tRob stared at his son for a few seconds before it sank it. “H-he isn’t?”
\t“No. Thought you knew.”
\t“Oh, no.” Setting his son down on his paws, Robert quickly began compiling a list of where Tai could’ve gone. “Mike, we have to find him. It’s dangerous for him to be out alone. Anywhere.”
\t“Where should we look?” Mike was confused again, looking at his dad with baffled eyes. He still had no idea what was going on.
\t“I’ll go to his own apartment,” Robert said. He took his son by the shoulders. “Listen, Mike. Check the building from the bottom up. Ask everyone you see if they’ve seen him. Don’t go into Tai’s own apartment, or the other emergency stairway. I’ll check there, I don’t want you to see it.”
\t“I’ve seen blood before, dad. I’ll check everywhere.” Mike bolted out of the study, down the corridor to the front door… he grabbed the handle and yanked at it. It rattled noisily, but didn’t move. “What?” Mike yelped in bewilderment. “Locked?”
\tRobert emerged from the study himself, took one glance at the front door, and then peered around the corridor corner to the dining room. His keys were no longer on the table. “Damn it,” he cursed under his breath. “He locked us in.”
\t“Why would he do that?!” demanded Mike, shocked.
\t“He’s going somewhere he doesn’t want us to follow.” Robert’s face was grim as he weighed the options.
\t“My key!” Mike suddenly exclaimed, spinning on the spot and sprinting dangerously down the corridor to his bedroom.
\t“Why didn’t I expect this?!” Robert snapped at himself. “Stupid. Tai’s a sly kid, why didn’t I think of this!?”
\tMike was asking himself the same question. The answer came to him eventually as he reached into his dresser for his spare key: earlier on, he’d concluded that, having lost his mother already, he knew what Tai was going through. But the truth was…
\tThe truth was he had no clue how Tai felt.

\tRobert had jogged down the hallway towards the stairs, to get to Tai’s old apartment. The blood spattered former home of Eraline and her son. But Mike stopped at the doorway to the stairwell, a sudden thought coming to him. A thought that sent a chill down his spine.
\tHe decided he should check the building from the top down. There was a security guard at the lobby, he’d stop Tai from going anywhere… what if Tai didn’t want to go out the building, but jump off it, instead? Mike bit his lip; sure, it was a silly thought, suicide being something he didn’t understand, but he had to be certain.
\tWith a muffled, anxious curse word, the kit mounted the stairs and clambered upwards.
\tIt was nothing but stairs for several minutes, as Mike hurried to the top of the multi-storey building.
\tWinded and gasping from exertion, at long last Mike burst through the unlocked door onto the roof. He’d only been here once or twice before, with his dad, to enjoy the cityscape or sunset. He’d certainly never been up here past midnight.
The high wind at the top of the twelve storey apartment building lashed at him instantly, catching him by surprise and nearly throwing him to the ground as it surged powerfully inland from the nearby sea. The rushing sound of it was dominating, almost hurting his ears.
\tIt had been so long, Mike couldn’t remember the layout of the grimy roof that well. The ground was nothing but uncompromising gray concrete. There was what appeared to be a massive air conditioner complex off to one side, fenced off. Upon reflection, Mike surmised it was probably a ventilation system; some kind of pump.
\tHis eyes strained in the darkness. There were few lights on the roof, understandably, and the fuzzy light from the streets below served only to render the sky a blurry gray; if it weren’t for the city lights reflecting off the few dark clouds that hung in the sky, there’d be even less visibility. The fox boy walked forward, peering into the gloom, his tail still as a stock as if he was worried it would attract the attention of something lurking in the darkness.
\tHe noticed almost absently that he was shivering. The cold wind was howling in his ears. He wished he’d thought to bring a pullover or something with him.
Would Tai really be out here?
\tThere was an almost inaudible sound. A shoe scraping across concrete, some sort of movement that he could barely hear over the rushing wind. Mike froze and then crept forward until he was able to look around the gargantuan ventilation pump. He inhaled sharply.
\tTai was there. Right at the edge of the building. Sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest and enveloped by his arms… no less than a few feet from a dozen-storey fall!
\t“Tai!” he called, looking wildly around for a way to enter the fenced off area. The shadowy blob didn’t seem to move or in any way respond to his call. With no hesitation, Mike leaped at the fence, hauling himself up and over the cold metal bar at the top, before dropping loudly to the other side. He ran over to the dark shape.
\tTai slowly looked over at him and smiled forlornly. “Hello Mike,” he said quietly, before returning to gazing out over the building’s edge.
\t“Tai, what are you doing here?!” demanded Mike, his voice fraught with more worry than he’d ever heard in it before. “Why did you run off?”
\tThe smaller kit apparently paid him no heed. He instead gestured up and out at the horizon. “Look,” he said, sounding infinitely sad.
\t“Huh?” Mike followed the gesture. Yet all he could see was the featureless sky; that upturned bowl of murky gray and black. “What’s up?”
\tTai seemed slightly crushed that his friend hadn’t even noticed that which he’d been pondering for nearly twenty minutes. “You don’t even notice they’re not there…” he exhaled in dismay. “Is that what happens?”
\tNow Mike was utterly bamboozled. “Tai, what’s not there?!” he demanded in exasperation.
\t“The stars!” He got a confused stare for a response. “You can’t see them ‘cause of all the light from streetlights and things around cities. I forget what they call that… used to know.” Tai looked up for a few more seconds, then his expression grew hopeless and tired. “I used to look at the stars every night. Guess I can’t anymore. Oh, light pollution.”
\t“I-is that why you came up here?” Mike asked hopefully. “’Cause you wanted to see the stars? Do they remind you of…?”
\tTai interrupted with a short, somewhat bitter laugh. “Mom never came out with me to watch the stars. Said she couldn’t stand the bugs and that we’d end up catching cold.”
\t“Oh. I was gonna say ‘does it remind you of home’ though.”
\tTai jumped a little, and his mouth opened, yet no sound came out. His eyes glistened and he felt his throat close. “Y-yeah, I-I…” he clenched his eyes shut until those familiar swirls appeared. “Mike!” he sobbed, his paws grabbing at his own shoulders, as if he was taking hold of his own body – to shake himself angrily.
\tMike moved swiftly, kneeling down beside his friend and covering him in a light, draping embrace. “I know… that’s how I was too at first.”
\tSuddenly, Tai went from clutching his own body to clawing at Mike’s. “Things we did do together, things we didn’t do. Things she liked and didn’t like. I don’t want to th-think ‘b-bout it!” He sniffed loudly. “D-does it ever go away? I-it hurts. I feel so terrible, and…”
\tMike shushed him, placing his own head on top of Tai’s. “No… not really. It didn’t for me.”
\tTai started crying again, softly. “Wh-when my dad died,” he began as the city lights below him contorted and sparkled, the tears seeping into his eyes distorting his view, “I cried for days. But at least… my mom… I was four! But now… sh-she’s gone t-too and it feels like… like…” he searched for a way to describe it. “Like I just lost everything I already lost. A-again.”
\tTai looked out at the myriad lights that stretched out seemingly without end before him. “There are people everywhere here…” he said haltingly, confused himself as to what his point was. “B-b-but I feel so alone! I’ve got nothing! N-n-nobody! My parents are dead!” His voice became panicked and furious. “Wh-what about me? I have no parents! Does anyone even care? I hate this fucking city!! I hate everyone! I want out of here!!”
\tMike was taken aback. He’d never heard Tai swear before, and the cub looked feral and afraid; almost as he had back at the hospital. He didn’t know what to say.
Although he did start to understand.
Yes, he had lost his mother. Yes, it had hurt then and it still did, but he always, always had his dad. They loved each other so much, and they managed to help one another through everything.
But Tai had lost everyone. He didn’t have a family anymore. To top it all off, Tai was now stranded in a strange city, a place as alien to him as the surface of the moon would be to Mike. Everything was hitting him faster and harder than Mike remembered it hitting him. He wasn’t even capable of asking these kinds of questions until a few days after it had happened.
\tWith a sniff, Tai forced himself to calm down a little, having seen Mike’s expression. “Wh-what happens now?” he blurted, almost incoherently, as he sat up. His tawny paw swiped at his nose to try to dry the flow of disgusting fluid and he eyed Mike apologetically.
\t“I guess… there’ll be a funeral in a few days, maybe a week.” Mike sat down finally. “They have to have a funeral.”
\t“I know that. I meant, what’s gonna happen to me now? They’re gonna put me in an orphanage, right? Send me away or something, like they said on the phone to your dad?”
\t“I don’t know… maybe dad will know.”
\tThere was an awkward silence. “Mike… I need to know. I don’t want to be sent to an orphanage. I don’t want to.”
\t“Let’s go ask him. About everything… after we get back inside.”
\t“Can we wait a little while?” Tai asked weakly. “I wanna look at the no-stars for a little longer.”
\tMike smiled and nodded. “Sure, I suppose so.”

Chapter Seven – Fin.

-- By Krazy Kitsune/Kichigai Kitsune
Copyright 2005 onwards.

", "pools_count": 1, "title": "Tai's Story - Chapter Seven", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "2", "rating_name": "Adult", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "3", "name": "Violence", "description": "Mild violence", "rating_id": "1" }, { "content_tag_id": "5", "name": "Strong Violence", "description": "Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death", "rating_id": "2" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "6", "views": "407" }